Washington, July 15 (ANI): New technology is making it easier than ever to find clothes that fit and flatter with high-tech sizing machines that scan customers and offer a list of recommended clothing, eliminating returns and providing manufacturers with real-world data.
Clothing makers, armed with body data collected from real shoppers, could sew better-fitting garments and more accurately forecast what sizes to stock.
Retailers would save on labour needed to fold and re-hang rejected garments. ome are already seeing its potential as a marketing tool.
Denim purchases at Bloomingdale's Century City store shot up in March during the test of a body scanner aimed at helping shoppers find the right pair of jeans, company spokeswoman Marissa Vitagliano said.
Sizing machines are "a great example of using technology to drive sales," she said.
"It's certainly the wave of the future and we want to be part of that," LA Times quoted Vitagliano as saying.
The technology could also help eliminate one of the biggest drawbacks to Internet shopping - returns.
More than 20 percent of apparel ordered online gets sent back. Sizing software being developed for home motion-sensing devices like the popular Microsoft Kinect will soon allow consumers to scan themselves in their living rooms before clicking "purchase" on their computer screens.
"It's disruptive technology that could break open the whole e-commerce apparel space," Raj Sareen, chief executive and founder of Styku, said.
The Los Angeles startup has developed a program that measures users' dimensions and creates personalized on-screen avatars to digitally "try on" clothes.
Using specifications provided by clothing manufacturers, the program can figure out whether that dress will fit like a tent or a tourniquet before a shopper ever takes it off the rack.
According to Sareen, the company plans to sell the tool directly to consumers for home use by the end of the year, but has not yet set a price. (ANI)
