What: Virtual fitting rooms have been positioned so that retailers can boost online sales and lower returns, but they have largely failed to gain meaningful traction.

Why is it important: Tech companies, retailers, and investors are optimistic about AR and AI-powered fit-tech because of pandemic-induced shifts in habits, technological development, and brands’ desire to differentiate themselves. But in order to take, brands and retailers need to think about how to make these virtual fitting rooms more exciting and an experiential proposition for their consumers.

As long as e-commerce has existed, the consumer frustration with finding the right fit has as well. Tech companies have promised virtual sizing solutions to boost sales and reduce returns and now, companies can produce more integrated, all-in-one fit recommendation and visualisation experiences, said Cathcart. Priorly, 3DLook separated out its fit-and-sizing and its virtual dressing platforms. To embed itself further into the consumers’ discovery on social media, and desire to show off clothes on the site, it will launch a new plug-in that lets users share their try-ons across social media.

The challenges with implementing virtual fitting rooms are still the high costs and low adoption rates. Virtual garments are difficult to render and fit is subjective. A lack of data surrounding fit preferences for different materials and styles often means brands will have to strategise where they put the tech first, such as initially offering it only for their most popular items or most loyal customers as a sort of test to gather data and improve results.

To change habits and convince consumers to adopt the tech in the long-term, retailers will have think of creative ways and offer consumers something more than a discount in terms of experience need to think about creating extra experiences surrounding them. For example, an in-the-metaverse gamified experience, or something that replicates the feeling of entering a dressing room.

How to inspire consumers to use virtual fitting rooms?