Zalando tests a virtual fitting room in its 25 markets

By

Isabel LEONHARDT

Translated by
Cassidy STEPHENS

Published
Apr 24, 2023

Zalando has launched its virtual fitting rooms pilot project in its 25 markets. From now on, customers can virtually try on 23 different pairs of jeans in the Zalando Fashion Store with the help of an avatar.

The pilot project is part of Zalando's Size & Fit initiatives. With this technology, Zalando wants to make buying a pair of jeans much easier. When it comes to finding the right size, jeans are among the most difficult items to find, as there are no uniform size standards, explains Zalando. 

As part of the pilot project, customers can create their own 3D avatar. All they have to do is enter their height, weight and gender. Using their avatar, users can then try on different sizes and check the fit of a selected range of jeans including 22 items from different brands.

Similar to a thermal image, different colours on the avatar show in which areas the jeans are more fitted or loose.

More than 30,000 Zalando customers have already tested this innovative technology in pilot projects with Puma and Zalando's own brand, Anna Field. The campaigns for each pilot project run for several weeks.

"With the pilot campaigns we want to understand how customers use the new technology. On this basis, we can develop a scalable solution for the future. We already see that interest in the campaigns is growing: about half of the customers have tried on more than one size on their avatar," says Stacia Carr, vice president of engineering at Zalando. 

According to her, Zalando is so far the only European fashion and lifestyle e-commerce platform to have a team dedicated exclusively to Size & Fit. In 2020, the company acquired additional expertise in this area by acquiring Fision, the Swiss specialist in 3D body scanning.

The team relies both on models who try on items on the spot and on machine learning, computer vision and other technologies to predict whether items are too big or too small. In addition, customers receive personalised sizing recommendations based on their purchase and return history, as well as reference items that they can add to their sizing profile. 

One of the main objectives of the Size & Fit initiatives is to avoid returns. According to Zalando, returns due to incorrect sizing are reduced by just over 10% for items with a size recommendation, compared to items that do not offer one.