Nearly 15% of all retail sales were returned in 2023 — and 75% of consumers cited fit as the main reason. As a result, brands and retailers of all sizes are implementing new tools, both in stores and online, to not only reduce returns but also to help customers find their ideal apparel and footwear sizes faster and easier.
Fortune Business Insights found that fit technology (also known as virtual fitting room or virtual try-on tech) is exhibiting a compound annual growth rate of 20.3% and is forecast to reach $25.11 billion in market size by 2032.
“I think the industry is benefiting from not just the acceptance of this technology but the overall fluidity that consumers are experiencing with technology,” said Melissa Gonzalez, Principal at MG2 in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. Shoppers increasingly understand the value proposition and are engaging more with the technology; in fact, some now actively expect it from brands, she explained.
“We still see convenience as the number one thing that customers look for, and they know technology can facilitate that efficiency and ease,” Gonzalez added. “There’s an opportunity for that to happen within fit technology.”
Using AI to Find the Perfect Size
Solutions like True Fit are using AI to tackle online sizing challenges for retailers. Customers input basic data about the sizes they typically buy in certain brands, and True Fit offers a recommendation based on these inputs. Levi’s has been able to reduce ecommerce returns since partnering with True Fit to launch two shopping tools: “See It In My Size” and “What’s My Size?” Similar solutions like 3DLOOK use data and analytics to make size selection easier for time-strapped customers.
“With a fit AI engine, you have the ability to integrate what you’re learning from a customer through their profiles, and then this technology is getting smarter and smarter,” Gonzalez said. “So with fit match tech, the more data a brand has from customers, the more they can triangulate and get more and more exact. That’s what’s exciting.”
Stantt, a menswear brand that was built to provide men with customized dress shirts and pants, has developed its own proprietary DataFit algorithm to achieve this goal. Shoppers provide their typical T-shirt size, height and weight, waist size, suit size or body type, and they will receive tailored recommendations for item sizing. Of course, the more precise and detailed a customer can get, the more accurate the fit recommendations will be.
Other virtual try-on solutions use augmented reality (AR) to “overlay” apparel and cosmetics directly onto a consumer. Google has made the most significant moves in this area, recently expanding its AR beauty tools so users can try on beauty products directly through mobile browsers. Additionally, the company recently launched virtual dress try-ons for more diverse models, with sizes ranging from XXS to XXXL.
“Brands like Anthropologie and H&M are seeing strong engagement from this feature,” said Matt Maher, Founder of M7 Innovations in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “The potential to make online shopping more inclusive and personalized is undeniable, and proprietary data from these activations will be key to measuring long-term success.”
However, Maher noted that only a few virtual try-on AR companies “have perfected hyper-realistic quality of fashion products, but nobody has yet solved the clunky/imperfect ‘fit’ [involved in] putting form-fitting AR clothes on our bodies.
“Much of this is the fault of basic ergonomics,” Maher added. “Holding your smartphone out in front of your body is both (i) a small form factor to see the fit, and (ii) imperfect as our hands subtly shake, [which] affects how the technology tracks our bodies frame by frame.”
Maher added: “Success hinges more on how virtual try-on is positioned and utilized as a tool for personalization, inclusivity, and brand expression, and less on the visual perfection we’re used to seeing in virtual reality. Proprietary data insights and inside analytics from brands that have experimented with this tech will be key to validating the hopeful expectations of marketers and innovators as this tech evolves.”
Bringing Fit Tech to Stores
Within stores specifically, 34% of retailers said they have already implemented, or plan to implement fit technology over the next 12 to 24 months, according to Retail TouchPoints’ 2024 Store Design & Experience Survey.
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Savage X Fenty’s partnership with FIT:MATCH was one of the more widely lauded adoptions of fit tech: Customers can get scanned in an in-store fitting room to get results of not only their recommended size but the product styles that best suit their body type. Gonzalez pointed to this recommendation engine as a big opportunity for consumers.
“It’s all about the ability to compare products, mirroring how comparative shopping is represented online, and bringing that into the store using fit technology,” Gonzalez explained. “You’re seeing a lot of these platforms evolve where they’re not just helping you with your fit, but also helping you compare that fit to other products, or it kickstarts an AI-driven search engine to make recommendations on what an item could be paired with. That leads to personalization.”
MG2 Advisory research found that in-store fit tech is already a big draw for footwear shoppers. Up to 68% of consumers reaffirmed the importance of a “customized fit,” and 40% said fit scan technology would benefit their in-store experiences. HOKA and Foot Locker are two of the growing number of footwear brands seizing this opportunity; both companies have rolled out fit tech in their stores that’s designed to empower shoppers to find the right size, based on their unique attributes and in terms of different shoe designs.
