A raft of new clothing retailers including Austin Reed Group's brands and Crew Clothing have signed up to virtual fitting room Fits.me.
Austin Reed and the group's other labels Viyella and CC Fashion are among a number of UK brands that have signed up recently such as Musto, M&Co, Baukjen and QVC as well as overseas labels such as Denmark's Bilka, Holland's Top Vintage and Wahcoma from the US.
They join brands such as Superdry, Hugo Boss, Thomas Pink and LK Bennett on the roster which now totals 23 labels in nine countries. The latest signings come on the heels of a £5 million investment in April for the service from investors including SmartCap, Conor Venture Partners, Fostergate Holdings and The Entrepreneur's Fund.
Fits.me, based in London, argues that it can significantly reduce returns to online retailers - one of the biggest issues facing online fashion retailers at the moment. It works by taking a series of photographs of each item on a robotic mannequin that changes shape to represent different body types. These are then compared to measurements provided by shoppers.
Fits.me co-founder and chief executive Heikki Haldre said demand for services that help reduce returns have increased sharply this year and virtual fitting rooms have become a 'vital weapon' for retailers.
'As the proportion of onine sales increases, so do retailer's overall garment returns rate. That attracts attention - and pressure to deal with it - from across the business,' he said.
He said it could also help encourage those reluctant to take the plunge into online fashion shopping and 'improve stubbornly high conversion rates.'
Fits.me vice-president of sales Peter Rankin said: 'Our analytics results show that, across the board, shoppers who use the virtual fitting room are twice as likely to convert into a sale as those that don’t. Concluding a sale, in the size that the shopper wants, there and then, reduces the likelihood of the shopper looking and purchasing elsewhere, and ecommerce directors in competitive clothing sectors are very aware of that.'
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