Apparel retail is a huge $1000 billion industry that is expected to grow to more than $2000 billion by 2025. However, there is a very considerable difference in the conversion rate between physical stores and online stores. According to studies, while the conversion rate for physical stores is about 30-40%, the conversion rate of online apparel market is only around 2-4%. This means only 2-4 out of 100 people visiting online stores actually make a purchase.
Based on a recent survey, the main reason for such a low conversion rate is the lack of personalized experience in such online shopping, and retailers could increase sales by $9.8 billion per year with just modest improvements in customer experience.
The studies show behaviors of shoppers buying apparels from physical stores follows the steps below:
These steps for both online shops and physical stores are summarized in Table 1. As can be seen in this table, there are two missing steps in online shopping compared to the physical one: i) clothes try-on, and ii) advice and recommendation. As a result, there is a substantial difference between the conversion rates of these two shopping methods. This is in line with the research outcome of the market survey as both missing steps in online shopping are related to the lack of personalized experience in e-commerce. Therefore, an online solution that can provide try-on experience in e-commerce and also being empowered with “How do I look?” advice, should be able to increase the conversion rate and reduce the gap between the physical and online shopping experiences. In fact, in some pilot programs, virtual dressing rooms resulted in more than a 50 percent increase in conversion rates for first time buyers and a 30 to 50 percent reduction in product return rates vs. online.
iTry solution can be easily integrated to e-commerce platforms and it is expected to increase their conversion rates by 10X.
In addition, through its smart recommendation technology, iTry can recommend clothes and accessories that are more suitable to users and hence it will further increase the sale of e-commerce platforms.
Besides increasing the sale, iTry will help e-commerce to reduce their unwanted cost. A significant percentage of online purchased clothes is returned based due to mis-fitting issues. According to a study by the University of Regensburg the return rate in apparel industry is between 25-50%. Based on another study, the annual global cost of mis-fitting return is More Than 500 Billion Euros. Exploiting iTry solution that allows users to try different sizes virtually and then select the right clothes for themselves can significantly reduce such return cost.
TABLE 1There are two packages available for the product:
The product solution is offered as a service that includes all new upgrades, and warranty during the subscription period.
We will provide training for SMEs on how to use the iTRY solution.
The email and phone call support (during office hours) support will also be provided for SMEs who subscribe the solution.
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