CSA Exclusive: Online fashion retailer offers virtual fitting
Careste is ensuring that online shoppers can have the same level of fitting accuracy they get in a brick-and-mortar store.
Chain Store Age recently spoke with Celeste Markey, founder and CEO of sustainable on-demand luxury fashion brand Careste, about how her company is leveraging the 3DLook YourFit 2.0 omnichannel fitting room platform to obtain accurate measurements from online shoppers. Careste provides custom-fit fashion items, using a base of 22 sizes that can be customized as desired for any body type.
“Our challenge, which also happens to be our mission, is to end the fashion waste that accumulates through mass over-production and over-consumption,” stated Markey. “Since our founding, we have been searching for a body scanning technology to complement our mission, our micro-size offering, and our unique on-demand luxury supply chain.”
As it did for so many other retailers, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated Careste’s need to provide advanced online customer service, including meeting the demand for accurate size and fit preference recommendations.
“Consumers would shop from their phones and laptops, and finding the right fit and understanding how clothing looks on them has become a big barrier to purchase,” said Markey. “With so many options for consumers to choose from today, a bad fit experience creates an easy way for consumers to shop elsewhere. Additionally, digital consumers are choosing to spend their money with purpose-driven companies with sustainable practices.”
Careste deployed the 3DLook YouFit platform, which offers photorealistic virtual try-on capability with instant feedback on what size would fit best, provided by core artificial intelligence (AI) technology that accurately captures and instantly processes customers’ body data.
YouFit also features a personalized recommendation engine that lets customers virtually try on AI-picked items based on the shopper’s body shape and measurements, fit preference, inventory and best-sellers, with the goal of replicating the service provided by an in-person sales associate. In addition, the platform offers a social sharing feature enabling shoppers to share their try-on with a single tap.
“Our consumers find the YouFit process to be accurate and simple to use, even fun,” said Markey. “In addition to end consumers, we have all of our models use the technology prior to photoshoots so that there are no fit surprises, which allows us to streamline and standardize the fitting and photoshoot process. 3DLook seamlessly integrates with our system and is an invaluable tool for Careste. We have a lot of exciting plans on the horizon, but none that we can disclose yet.”
Virtual fitting gains popularity
Other retailers are also attempting to provide a “real life”-type clothes try-on experience in a virtual setting. For example, Walmart is rolling out the Zeekit virtual fitting room solution to select users of the Walmart app and Walmart.com. To use Zeekit, which the retailer purchased in 2021, customers upload their picture or choose from a series of models that best represent their height, shape and skin tone to instantly see themselves in any item of clothing. Customers can also share their virtual outfits with friends for a second opinion, enabling a social shopping experience.
And in July 2021, specialty menswear retailer Knot Standard rolled out new digital offerings in an effort to provide personalized service to customers who do not live near one of its 10 U.S. showroom stores. The retailer released a new iPhone app called Fit, which enables customers to submit just two photos to create their custom clothing. App users can follow a set of guided instructions to capture front and side profile photos, which are automatically sent over to the Knot Standard tech team.