The High-Tech Future Of Fitting Rooms

For years now there has been talk of reinventing the fitting room – and rightfully so with all the technological advances available to retailers today. Whether it’s smart mirrors that allow customers to view themselves in different style clothing without physically having to change their clothes, or mirrors that can make suggestions based on body type and fit, there are so many opportunities to increase sales with an advanced fitting room experience.

But, we have yet to see these fitting rooms of the future to be executed in any meaningful way in retail stores. Let’s look at some futuristic advancements that are finally hitting stores.

Smart Fitting Rooms

Purchase decisions are made behind the curtain in fitting rooms – making it an essential part of the shopping experience.

Brands must examine the missed opportunities in this step of the shopping experience, as customers are often left alone and unattended at a crucial juncture of their buying journey. A positive experience coupled with the right suggestions at the right time can make or break a sale. And that often hinges on the experience behind the fitting room doors.

Virtual features in the fitting room can help answer customer questions, assist with getting the right fit, finding the correct size, checking inventory availability, and reducing wait times, all while building a customer’s profile and preferences for future purchase recommendations.

Personalization At The Right Time

When a sales associate is not available or cannot witness what the customer is experiencing in the fitting room, technology can fill the gaps in the sales process by offering virtual assistance.

Whether it’s offering the correct sizes, finding alternative styles, or checking inventory to offer available inventory, there are countless ways for smart fitting rooms to take the sale to the next level by either closing the sale or upselling. Both options can increase the average dollar sale (ADS) for retailers – which can make or break sales quotas. It’s always easier and more beneficial to increase a potential sale than to convince a new customer to make an initial purchase.

Macy’s Allows You To Dress In Disney With AR

Augmented reality (AR) can enhance the customer experience in many ways – and Macy’s is doing just that by allowing customers to become their favorite Disney Princess through their AR Mirror.

Through the holiday season at the Herald Square location in New York City, customers can make their Disney dreams come true by simply checking themselves out through the tech company Zero10‘s AR Mirror. To go along with Macy’s launch of a Disney Princess product collection, the mirror allows customers to virtually try on dresses worn by Disney Princess characters.

“We are excited to expand our relationship with Disney as, together, we bring to life Disney Princess experiences in-store and online with exclusive Disney products, just in time for the holiday season. Our iconic brands are synonymous with special experiences, and we can’t wait to captivate a new generation of fans with the wonder of Disney at Macy’s,” said Nata Dvir, chief merchandising officer at Macy’s.

Amazon Takes The Next Step In Smart Fitting Rooms

It’s no secret that Amazon has been expanding their offerings in the apparel business, and in doing so they are innovating the way people shop for clothing.

Now customers can enter a physical Amazon store and shop apparel samples, where only one of each item is displayed in store, each one featuring a scannable QR code that can add the item to the customer’s online shopping cart.

The QR code also allows customers to reserve a fitting room and try on the item – a seamless way to shop that is also cost-effective for the retailer as it significantly limits inventory carried, prevents loss, while providing a streamlined shopping experience.

Nike’s Immersive Fitting Rooms

In their Paris and London stores Nike partnered with Unit9 to launch immersive fitting rooms. These high-tech rooms use smart mirrors and allow customers to mimic breathing and movement exercises, which can help them find the right size and correct fit recommendations.

These benefits can lead to increased traffic to brick-and-mortar stores as these features are not available online.

Savage x Fenty Ahead Of The Curve With Body Scans

Rihanna’s brand Fenty has been paving the way in so many ways since the brand launched a beauty line featuring foundation in 40 skin tones, and has since expanded to 50 shades – the first of any beauty brand to address the very obvious need in the beauty industry. Popular for its broad inclusivity, Fenty Beauty had many tried-and-true makeup companies scrambling to increase their own color offerings to keep up with the brand and remain competitive.

And now Savage x Fenty has partnered with Fit:Match to launch virtual in-store fitting rooms that employ advanced technologies including AR body scans, computer vision, and AI. The brand allows customers to scan their bodies in under 30 seconds using AI technology to determine their correct bust and band measurements, and in turn offers personalized product recommendations.

These personalized and positive customer experiences not only increase sales but build brand loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing, which has endless benefits for brands.