Shopper Experience
07 April 2022
Machine learning meets the fitting room
Vue.ai's virtual dressing room allows shoppers to size up looks and styles before they buy.
A look at Vue.ai's virtual dressing room software. (Courtesy photo)
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For shoppers deciding whether to buy, there’s nothing quite like knowing a product is the right look and fit. It may look good and be well-made, but getting to yes often requires seeing oneself in it.
In apparel and fashion, it's why the dressing room is an important part of the shopping experience. One of the many innovations to arrive in the 19th century with the rise of department stores, it offers a bridge between the public, stylized setting of the store, and the personal, every day space where the buyer will ultimately use the product.
The rise of ecommerce ushered in an era in which many key elements of the shopper experience was reinvented with tools that made it easier to find products, and make a purchase from anywhere that had internet access. A focus on simplicity and speed meant some elements of the in-store experience didn’t survive, but the dressing room is proving to have staying power. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced many fitting rooms to close for health and safety, it offered additional incentive for retailers to offer a version of the dressing room in digital form.
This is leading technologists to develop fitting room tools for a new generation of shopping experience.
Vue.ai applies artificial intelligence to its work with brands and retailers in the areas of personalization, search and imagery. Some of its customers include thredUP, DIESEL, Off-White and Centric Brands.
A virtual dressing room is prominent among the capabilities it offers. Drawing on a brand's products and images of models, the company’s virtual dressing room tool allows users to select a model that looks like them, and style it with products they are considering. Think of it as an AI-powered version of those day-at-the-mall montages from movies.
Embedded within a product development page, the virtual dressing room allows shoppers to see how products look on someone that is a similar look and size to themselves, and swap outfits.
“Having somebody that looks very similar to you can give you a lot of information about that product that you wouldn’t normally have,” said Brian Harris, Vue.ai Director of R&D and New Initiatives.
Virtual Dressing Room Demo | VueModel | Vue.ai
Using machine learning frameworks called Generative Adversarial Networks, the technology is designed so that shoppers can select across a range of different outfits and sizes. Yet it goes deeper than showing the difference between small and large, or shirt and pants. The technology understands silhouette, the type of sleeve, neckline and design elements. It also understands body parts, shape, musculature and skin tone. This can quickly add up to a number of options, but the technology is designed to sort that out, and is trained to provide exactly what shoppers request, Harris said.
“The number of possible combinations that you can create rapidly becomes millions within just a couple of product variations,” Harris said. “We provide the access to be able to do any of that with that accuracy without having to worry about something coming out as an inaccurately represented product.”
For brands and retailers, the dressing room can help increase conversion. An often-quoted statistic in retail indicates that customers who use an in-person fitting room are 70% more likely to buy a product than those who don’t. So the logic follows that this would also apply in the digital space. Fitting rooms can also boost retention and cut down on returns, said Harris.
For shoppers, the tool serves as a stylist of sorts, swapping out not only combinations of products, but also the models. For Vue.ai, a big focus is on being inclusive of all shoppers.
“Being able to represent size inclusion as well as ethnicity inclusion is really important in the marketplace, Harris said, adding that it’s important “to show models that look like the shopper and give a good idea of what this product might actually look like on [them].”
When shoppers see themselves represented, they can see themselves in a product.
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Marketing
09 June 2023
'There's a lot of ways to frame value'
Campbell Soup Company CEO Mark Clouse offered thoughts on messaging amid inflationary shifts in consumer behavior.
Photo by Kelly Common on Unsplash
After months of elevated inflation and interest rate hikes that have the potential to cool demand, consumers are showing more signs of shifting behavior.
It’s showing up in retail sales data, but there’s also evidence in the observations of the brands responsible for grocery store staples.
The latest example came this week from Campbell Soup Company. CEO Mark Clouse told analysts that the consumer continues to be “resilient” despite continued price increases on food, but found that “consumers are beginning to feel that pressure” as time goes on.
This shows up in the categories they are buying. Overall, Clouse said Campbell sees a shift toward shelf-stable items, and away from more expensive prepared foods.
There is also change in when they make purchases. People are buying more at the beginning of the month. That’s because they are stretching paychecks as long as possible.
These shifts change how the company is communicating with consumers.
Clouse said the changes in behavior are an opportunity to “focus on value within our messaging without necessarily having to chase pricing all the way down.”
“No question that it's important that we protect affordability and that we make that relevant in the categories that we're in," Clouse said. "But I also think there's a lot of ways to frame value in different ways, right?”
A meal cooked with condensed soup may be cheaper than picking up a frozen item or ordering out. Consumers just need a reminder. Even within Campbell’s own portfolio, the company can elevate brands that have more value now, even if they may not always get the limelight.
The open question is whether the shift in behavior will begin to show up in the results of the companies that have raised prices. Campbell’s overall net sales grew 5% for the quarter ended April 30, while gross profit margins held steady around 30%. But the category-level results were more uneven. U.S. soup sales declined 11%, though the company said that was owed to comparisons with the quarter when supply chains reopened a year ago and expressed confidence that the category is seeing a longer-term resurgence as more people cook at home following the pandemic. Snacks, which includes Goldfish and Pepperidge Farm, were up 12% And while net sales increased overall, the amount of products people are buying is declining. Volumes were down 7%.
These are trends happening across the grocery store. Campbell is continuing to compete. It is leading with iconic brands, and a host of different ways to consume them. It is following that up with innovation that makes the products stand out. Then, it is driving home messaging that shows consumers how to fit the products into their lives, and even their tightening spending plans.
Campbell Soup is more than 150 years old, and has seen plenty of difficult economic environments. It is also a different business today, and will continue to evolve. At the end of the day, continued execution is what’s required.
“If it's good food, people are going to buy it, especially if it's a great value,” Clouse said.
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