1. October 2012
Includes exclusive
retailer survey
In association with
ECOMMERCE
IN FASHIONHow retailers are
driving online sales

3. EcommErcE in fashion
Seekingaperfectfit
foronlinefashion
contents
Survey p4
Online opportunities revealed
Etail sales p6
Making every visit count
Data exploitation p8
Understanding your customers
Virtual fitting p10
Pretty Green drives online sales
Editor-in-chief
Chris Brook-Carter 020 7728 3593
Supplement Editor
Nick Hughes 020 7728 3592
Production Editor
Abigail O’Sullivan 020 7728 3518
Art Editor
Jon Hart 020 7728 3519
Contributors
Paul Lindsell
Production Manager
Paddy Orchard 020 7728 4111
Commercial Director
Mandy Cluskey 020 7728 3586
Account manager
Sarah Killey 020 7728 3561
Director of Retail
Tracey Davies 020 7728 3567
T
he job of selling fashion online is an unenviable one. The
fashion industry thrives on image, aspiration and style –
desires that are easier to feed in the bricks-and-mortar
environment where consumers can touch, try on and generally
make an emotional connection with clothing. Historically, the
inability to physically interact with products has been a major
barrier to growing online fashion sales, not to mention a key
reason for the high rate of returns that torments ecommerce
directors. Yet advances in technology and improvements in data
exploitation are slowly helping to break down the barriers that
have prevented shoppers from fully embracing online channels.
Three questions in particular continue to occupy the thoughts
of ecommerce chiefs – how to increase conversion rates, how to
reduce returns and how best to exploit the raft of data that exists
on customers? What we hope to show in this supplement is that
these questions are all interconnected and solutions to them
should not be sought in isolation. Whether it’s by harnessing
virtual fitting rooms or through the introduction of social media,
technology is improving the user experience and generating
invaluable customer data, while at the same time giving
consumers the confidence to convert their web visit into a
purchase. We’ll also be giving some pointers as to where we think
the next big technological leaps will come from.
Nick Hughes Supplement editor
October 2012 Retail Week 3www.retail-week.com
In association with
T
he three biggest issues our customers and potential
customers tell us every day that they face are: how to reduce
item return rates that struggle to get below anywhere from
15% to 40%; how to increase online conversion rates that struggle
to get above 3%; and how to find new sources of big data and
derive business advantages from those statistics.
Fits.me has developed an effective solution to the “biggest
challenge” facing online clothing retailers: the fact it is impossible
for online shoppers to try on clothes before they buy. The Fits.me
solution is a virtual fitting room, and we can demonstrate that it
improves online sales conversions by up to 62% and reduces
returns by up to 35%. In a sector in which fractions of a percent
can mean millions of pounds added or subtracted from the top
line, these are game-changing numbers. And let’s not forget the
value of the big data: the anonymised measurements of hundreds
of thousands of individuals can help retailers to determine not
what sizes they are selling but what they could be selling.
We hope his supplement will arm you for months ahead with
the arguments you need to take to your board; and we wonder,
too, how much things will have moved on by this time next year?
Heikki Haldre Founder and chief executive,Fits.me
Cover credit: Alamy

4. I
n the digital age, the ability for
fashion retailers to trade through
multiple channels is becoming
increasingly key to the long-term
success of their business. But running
an online store is very different from
running a traditional bricks-and-mortar
store and retailers that operate online
face a whole new set of challenges.
To better understand the dynamics of
the online trading environment, Retail
Week commissioned a survey of leading
fashion retailers, the results of which
offer some fascinating insights into how
retailers view the key issues affecting
onlinesalesoptimisation.
One thing abundantly clear is that
more and more shoppers are using the
internet to actually buy the latest fash-
ions, rather than just search for inspira-
considerably lower than in traditional
bricks-and-mortar stores. In particular,
retailers believe that the inability to
physically interact with an item is the
main barrier that prevents consumers
from shopping for fashion online.
Two thirds of respondents to the
survey said they believed the fact that
customers cannot tell the quality of the
product was a major hurdle to convert-
ing website visits into sales, while 62%
cited consumer concern about whether
the products will fit and look good on
them as a key barrier. Four in 10, mean-
while,believedcustomersnotbeingable
to tell what size they should order was
animpedimenttobetterconversion.
Breaking barriers
These findings mirror consumer
responses to the Drapers report, which
found that items not fitting is by far
the main reason why fashion products
bought online are returned, with
poorer quality than expected the sec-
ond most cited explanation.
Sizing, of course, takes on a whole
new dimension online, where the cus-
tomerisunabletotrybeforetheybuy.Of
the retailers surveyed, just 21% disa-
greed that sizing had become more of an
issue for them as a larger percentage of
business moves online. Particularly for
retailers selling multiple clothing
brands, a lack of consistency of fit across
different labels was identified as a prob-
lem and inconsistent sizing was cited as
akeyissueby64%ofthoseretailers.
When asked what they are doing to
improve conversion rates for the cloth-
ingcategoriesontheirwebsites,retailers
offered a variety of responses. The most
popular actions included improving
information on clothing sizes and fit on
product pages; trialling different check-
out processes and different levels of
information on product pages; offering
free returns; and adding customer rat-
ings and reviews to the site. Almost a
quarterofrespondents,meanwhile,said
they were trialling a virtual fitting room
or fitting tool on their online store.
In recent years, developments in
virtual fitting rooms have allowed
consumers to see what an item of
clothing looks like dressed on a real,
robotic mannequin that has adopted
their precise, individual body shape.
Onlinefashionfitforpurpose
tion. More than 60% of retailers
surveyedsaidtheironlineclothingsales
were growing at a rate in excess of 25%
per year, while 10% reported sales were
growingatarateof100%ormore.
This growth is reflected in consumer
responses to the Drapers Etail Report
2012,whichdiscoveredthatjust20% of
people currently never buy fashion
online, while 40% do so once a month
ormore.
Nevertheless, for the vast majority of
multichannel fashion retailers, online
sales are still dwarfed by sales through
conventional bricks-and-mortar stores,
and, as such, a huge opportunity exists
togrowonlinerevenues.
Replicating the in-store environment
online is challenging, and hence
conversion rates online tend to be
“The inaBiliTy
To physically
inTeracT wiTh
an iTem is The
main Barrier
ThaT prevenTs
consumers
shopping
for fashion
online”
Asurveyoffashionretailersrevealsthechallengesofreplicatingthein-storeexperience
online.Buthugeopportunitiesexisttogrowdigitalrevenues.NickHughesreports
EcommErcE In fashIon
ExclusIvE survEy
4 retail week October 2012 www.retail-week.com
Retailers are trialling a
range of solutions to
improve online sales
conversions
alamy

5. C
October 2012 retail week 5www.retail-week.com
More than 50% of the retailers sur-
veyed said a virtual fitting room was a
great idea, although more than half of
those said it was too expensive at the
moment for them to consider imple-
menting, and 19% of respondents
expressed concern about the complex-
ity of implementing the technology
within their own online store.
rate of returns
One of the key attractions of providing
customers with an online fitting room is
an anticipated reduction in the rate of
items returned. The nature of the online
shopping environment means return
ratesarefarhigherthaninthebricksand
mortar environment – indeed, it is not
unusual for consumers to buy multiple
sizes of a specific item with the inten-
tion of returning the sizes that do not fit.
Almost two thirds of retailers surveyed
said rate of returns is a crucial KPI, and
as such they take steps to analyse the
reasons why customers are retuning
products,whilejust5%saidtheydonot
measure returns at all. More than 85%
said reducing clothing returns was of
highormediumprioritytothebusiness,
although 7% said they are happy for
returns to rise if conversion and online
sales are also rising.
What the survey results show is that
a general consensus is beginning to
emerge on the opportunities and
challenges facing online stores but,
equally, each retailer has its own priori-
ties and there is no single one-size-fits-
all approach to optimising online
fashion sales.Virtual fitting rooms allow consumers to try before they buy
survEy onlInE fashIon rEtaIlErs
What are you doing to improve conversion rates for the clothing categories
on your website?
What do you think are the main barriers to conversion for the clothing
categories on your website?
Customers can’t tell the
quality of the products
Customers can’t tell whether products
will fit them/look good on them
Customers can’t tell what
size they should order
Customers can’t see delivery and returns
information on the product page
Customers are put off
by our returns process
Too many clicks to
complete purchase
Customers have to register
to checkout on our site
Customers prefer to use the site for research
and then come to the store to buy
Trialling different
checkout processes
Trialling different levels
of information on product pages
adding customer ratings
and reviews to our site
Improving information on clothing
sizes and fit on product pages
Offering a virtual fit tool/
virtual fitting room
Introducing a click-and-collect
service
Introducing free
standard delivery
Introducing
free returns
67%
37%
62%
37%
40%
32%
2%
49%
7%
What rate are your online clothing sales growing at?
100% or more a year
75% or more a year
50% or more a year
25% or more a year
10% or more a year
5% or more a year
It is flat year on year
It has declined in the past year
15%
10%
10%
7%
12%
29%
12%
5%
How much more of an issue has sizing become as a larger
percentage of clothing is sold online?
much more of an issue as we sell multiple
brands and sizing isn’t consistent
a little more of an issue as we sell multiple
brands and sizing isn’t consistent
much more of an issue as
we use vanity sizing
a little more of an issue as
we use vanity sizing
It is not more of
an issue for us
38%
26%
5%
10%
21%
24%
12%
17%
10%
24%
10%
37%
What priority do you give to reducing clothing returns?
High
priority
medium
priority
low
priority
We don’t try to reduce clothing
and footwear returns at all
We are happy for our returns rate to rise if
conversion and online sales are also rising
44%
42%
7%
0%
7%
30%
26%
What do you think of the idea of an online virtual fitting room that allows
customers to see how they will really look wearing your products?
Great idea we would
like to implement
Great idea but too expensive
for us to consider
Too complex
to implement
We would like to implement, but
don’t know if the technology exists
We’re worried it would lead
to basket abandonment
We don’t think fitting
is a problem online
19%
7%
9%
9%
In association with
How do you measure the rate of returns for clothing?
It is a crucial KPI and we measure all returns
as well as analysing the reasons customers
are returning products
It is a crucial KPI and we measure all returns
although we don’t analyse the reasons why
We measure returns that are posted/
couriered back to us, but not online sales that
are returned to stores, and analyse the
reasons customers are returning products
We measure returns that are posted/
couriered back to us, but not online sales that
are returned to stores, but don’t analyse the
reasons customers are returning products
We don’t measure returns
60%
5%
21%
10%
5%

6. C
onverting visits into sales is
the Holy Grail for online fash-
ion retailers. A high conver-
sion rate is a key indicator of a
strong online store and a fractional
advantage in conversion over a rival
can be worth millions to the top line.
But with thousands of businesses com-
peting for the attention of audiences
with ever-decreasing attention spans
and even less patience, just one slip up
along the way can result in a lost sale.
With average conversion rates hover-
ing around the 3% mark, it can be easy
to conclude that online fashion retail-
ers have yet to crack the secret of how
to turn website visits into hard cash.
Yet there is no doubt that retailers bet-
ter understand how customers interact
with their websites now than was the
case at the start of their online journeys.
As Lee Duddell, founder of user
experience specialist What Users Do,
explains: “Retail websites were initially
created by designers as a platform to
showtheirofferingsinthebestandmost
aestheticallypleasingwayasameansof
generatingsales,butthisapproachcom-
pletely ignored the journey a customer
ularly heinous crime by experts. Steve
Borges, chief executive of Biglight, the
specialist ecommerce agency, says:
“Therearesomebrandswhereyouhave
to go through a lot of information to get
to the product and that can impact on
conversion. Even if you merchandise
your home page with great looks and
products, if you put a brand layer in
frontofthatandhavetoclickthroughto
the stock it affects conversion.”
John Lewis head of online marketing
Emma McLaughlin agrees the online
journey has to be as seamless and
straightforward as possible. “We’re
always looking at how we can reduce
the number of clicks customers have to
make, or the stages of purchase they’re
taken through,” she says.
That is not to say that style has no
place. Emotion plays a key part in
online purchasing despite the lack of a
physical product to engage with. It is
vital that retailers show off the
product in the best possible light
and tap into consumers’ emotional
response to shopping.
Asos’useofcatwalkvideosonits
website helps it increase conver-
Theclickstocashconversion
hastotaketomakeapurchase.”Ascon-
sumers have become increasingly
sophisticated in how they shop online,
fashion retailers have had to respond by
becoming more user-centric.
Boden operations and IT director
Ben Dreyer says it is the “50 little
tweaks” to the online store that deliver
the “great customer experience”, add-
ing that fashion retailers must ensure
the user experience, web design and
the online user journey are all opti-
mised to maximise sales. Nevertheless,
common errors still blight the perform-
ance of many online stores.
Duddell cites key mistakes retailers
make as: poor product information and
imagery; a returns policy written by a
legal department, rather than a web
copywriter; the lack of a guest
checkout or delivery choice; and
poor localisation. These problems
are easy enough to solve. However,
the factors that determine whether a
visiting consumer completes a pur-
chase are often far more nuanced.
Inconsistent merchandising is
a common fault, with product
hidden away considered a partic-
6 Retail Week October 2012 www.retail-week.com
“We’Re
alWays
looking at
hoW We can
Reduce the
numbeR of
clicks
customeRs
have to
make”
Emma McLaughlin,
John Lewis
How can online fashion retailers overcome the many barriers to sales
conversion in order to optimise their performance, asks Nick Hughes
ECommErCE in fashion
optimising salEs
aLaMy

7. www.retail-week.com
sion rates, while TK Maxx aids the con-
sideration process with helpful outfit
tips. “The way in which the product is
presented,thequalityoftheproduct,the
sharpness of the colours, how good the
zoomis,thecontentabouttheproductis
hugelyimportant,”saysBorges.
Duddell agrees it would be a travesty
not to highlight the designers’ artistry.
“However,whatusersdoonretailsitesis
mainlydrivenbyclarity,simplicity,trust
and design, so a middle ground must be
found that incorporates strong design
elementswithsimplicity,”hesays.
IntheDrapersEtailReport2012,con-
sumers cited convenience and ease of
browsing as reasons for buying fashion
online, hence why online retailers who
truly put the customer at the heart of
their web design strike a balance
between pushing the right emotional
buttons while ensuring a slick, func-
tional process. In practice, this means
easy, quick navigation with logical
orderingandmanageabletabsaswellas
a well-configured search function.
For retailers that operate across mul-
tiple channels, consistency of branding
is also a vital component. One of Next’s
mantras is that the consumer just sees
one brand, and it is therefore important
that online stores reflect the in-store
experience.
Getting each of these elements right
can significantly improve an online
retailer’s chances of converting a visit
into a sale, but the fact remains there is
no silver bullet for guaranteeing the
customer will complete their purchase.
Part of the reason why fashion conver-
sion rates lag behind other categories
such as entertainment is consumers’
fear over the quality and fit of the item.
Poor fit is by far the main reason why
clothes purchased online are returned.
With fit often varying significantly
between different brands, getting the
right sized garment becomes even more
of a minefield for consumers.
The cost of returns can be significant
when you take into account the loss of
sale, the cost of redelivery and the fall
in resale value of an item. But beyond
these tangible costs, a high rate of
return can also damage the brand.
Heikki Haldre, chief executive and
co-founder of virtual fitting room
Fits.me, says: “Of customers who get
the wrong size, 25% say I’ve learnt that
this is not my size so I’ll try again; 57%
will say I’m not willing to take the risk
again so I’m going to buy less from that
online shop, and 23% will say I’m
going to buy less from this brand
regardless of whether it’s the online or
bricks-and-mortar shop.”
Menswear retailer Pretty Green has
incorporated a Fits.me virtual fitting
room into its online store, which uses a
robotic mannequin to show how the
item will look on the customer’s own
body dimensions. The upshot has been
an increase in conversion rates of 62%
in 2012 and returns are down. “If cus-
tomers visit the fitting room, they are
much more likely to convert,” says
PrettyGreenheadofdigitalTimKalic.
The growth in shopping through
mobile devices has presented another
setofchallenges.Whatworksonadesk-
top does not necessarily work on a
hand-held device. Retailers have had to
adapt their mobile offer to reflect this.
John Lewis recently made all the
‘continue’ and ‘place order’ buttons in
the checkout on its mobile site larger so
theyareeasytotouchwithathumb,and
has changed the delivery date selection
to use the phone’s native date picker.
Interestingly, fashion appears to
work well on tablets, according to sta-
tistics from the Affiliate Windows’
M-commerce white paper, which
found the average conversion rate
October 2012 Retail Week 7www.retail-week.com
Boden believes user
experience,design and
user journey must be
optimised to up sales
“What useRs
do on Retail
sites is
mainly dRiven
by claRity,
simplicity,
tRust and
design”
Lee Duddell, What Users Do
for the iPad is 3.81% for fashion, com-
pared with 1.92% for electrical and
1.21% for telecoms. Tablets also per-
formed well against other mobile
devices, suggesting that screen size and
orientation, as well as variable band-
width, are a barrier to completing sales.
Retailers will have to overcome all of
those barriers if they are to improve
conversion rates in the years ahead and
turn clicks into cash.
futurEgazing–ConvErsion
“Thebigpainpointforconsumersin
buyingclothingonlineisworriesabout
howtheitemwillfitandlookonthem,”
writesPeterBallard,partneratdigital
userexperienceagencyFoolproof.
“I’msurprisedmoreretailersaren’t
makingmoreuseofcustomerreviews.It
canbereallyusefulforconsumerstoget
feedbackfromothersonhowclothes
orderedonlinefeelandfit.Beyondthat,I
expecttoseebetterintegrationoffashion
websiteswithsocialmedia.Forexample,
byallowingtheirpeerstocommentonan
outfittheyareconsideringbuying,
shopperscangetimmediatesocial
reinforcementwhiletheretailergets
instantconsumerfeedback.
“Imagerecognitionisanother
technologicaladvancethatcouldhelp
conversion.Theabilitytopointyourphone
atanobjectoritemofclothingandget
informationaboutwhereyoucanbuyitis
exciting.Thefirststepstowardsthisare
alreadybeingseeninbroadcasting,where
useofthe“secondscreen”(suchasan
iPadappaccompanyingpopularshows)
allowsfansof,say,TheOnlyWayisEssex,
toclickonanitemofclothingthatoneof
thestarsiswearing,andthenviewand
purchaseitthroughtheapp.”
In association with

8. L
egend has it that when Dunn-
humby first presented results of
its Clubcard initiative to the
Tesco board, then chairman
Lord MacLaurin declared: “What
scares me is that you know more about
my customers after three months than I
know after 30 years.”
every customer the same to under-
standing sub pockets of behaviour
within their customer base and, most
recently, understanding how individ-
ual customers behave in the online
environment.
By successfully analysing and lever-
aging this data, online fashion retailers
can give themselves a significant com-
petitive advantage over their peers, but
achieving this is not without its chal-
lenges. So how should they go about it?
Across the data universes
Broadly speaking, there are three main
data universes that retailers should
concern themselves with, as Steve
Borges, managing director of specialist
ecommerce agency Biglight explains.
“The first is all of that data that
sits within your order history file; so
if you’ve been trading for six years
you can know how many customers
you’ve sold to, what they’ve bought,
how many you’ve acquired and how
many you’ve lost. If you’re lucky
enough to do home delivery you’ve got
post code and payment card informa-
tion as well.”
Then there is information about sub-
scribers, especially those people who
opt into emails, which when coupled
with the buyer data creates a single cus-
tomer view. The third universe, says
Borges, is around web analytics, both
in terms of how consumers are behav-
ing on your own website and what
they’re saying about you off-site, on
social media and in online forums.
John Lewis head of online marketing
Emma McLaughlin says the retailer is
constantly mining data about how cus-
tomers use its website to fine-tune and
optimise navigation.
“For instance, on our desktop site,
we’ve used analytics and testing alter-
natives to change the product hierar-
chy for wedding clothes – to make the
most popular products easier to find,
by moving them up the left hand navi-
gation,” she says.
The growth of social media, mean-
while, has allowed marketers to collect
previously unattainable qualitative
data about how consumers feel about
their brand. By marrying these data
Datagetspersonal
That was 20 years ago and ever since
retailers have been seeking to harness
the full power that data mining has to
offer. Where the grocery industry has
led, other sectors, including fashion,
have followed. Rapid technological
advances have enabled retailers to
evolve from a position of treating
www.retail-week.com8 Retail Week October 2012
Fashion retailers are giving themselves a competitive edge by harnessing the full power of
data mining to understand how individual customers behave online, writes Nick Hughes
ECOMMERCE IN FASHION
BIG DATA
The growth of social
media has allowed
marketers to collect
previously unattainable
qualitative data
Optus maionse nditio
evenducias millab int
imusdam
ALAMY

9. to part with information. “What we’ve
found is that using online research
techniques can help to mask people’s
identity and, in turn, encourage them
to share and disclose more about sensi-
tive topics,” says Eccleston.
“We can offer people a shield and
give them the confidence to talk more
honestly and reliably about topics
ranging from health issues to sex toys.”
In some situations, people are more
willing to take part in research and
offer up their opinions if they get
some noticeable recognition in return,
says Eccleston: “For example, we saw
a boost in return
rates when
we linked
survey
feedback to
a branded
loyalty card
scheme,
giving users
the chance
to gain extra
points for
every piece
of research
they completed,” he says
More personally targeted emails are
also better received than generic circu-
lars. In the Drapers report 34% said
they would like more personalised
emails with products most likely to
appeal to them, and the same number
would welcome personalised special
offers and discounts depending on
what they buy. The report also uncov-
ered that consumers are willing to
share sizing information if it leads to
better availability.
What is certain is that the rapid
advancement in data exploitation
spells good news for online fashion
retailers that are just as concerned
with what you say about your clothes
as they are what your clothes say
about you.
“WE ARE
GIVING
BRANDS THE
DATA ON WHAT
SIZES THEY
SHOULD CARRY
THAT THEY
AREN’T”
Heikki Haldre, Fits.me
universes, online retailers have been
able to hammer down into not just
what consumers do and how they
behave but why they behave as they
do, enabling them to offer a unique
service to each customer.
Derek Eccleston, head of research at
eDigitalResearch, says that in recent
years online retail shopping has
become increasingly about providing
visitors with a personalised experi-
ence. “For example, by combining pur-
chase data with user insight, retailers
should be able to tell what a customer
purchased [or did not purchase] on
their last visit, and offer up to them
similar products, which, in turn,
should help to increase conversion
rates,” he says.
Amazon is widely acknowledged as
the trailblazer in personalisation, while
grocery retailers are also expert at offer-
ing discounts and promotions based on
their knowledge of what individual
consumers buy.
Fashion retailers have, on the whole,
been slower to embrace complex per-
sonalisation but the signs are that the
wheels of change are in motion. Mata-
lan has been working with technology
firm Rich Relevance to launch an
online personalisation service, which
means customers will be presented
with suggestions for products based on
their previous browsing and purchas-
ing activity, while greater personalisa-
tion is set to be a key feature of John
Lewis’ forthcoming website relaunch.
Sizing up customers
New technology is also allowing retail-
ers to gather useful information on size.
By allowing shoppers to ‘try on’ clothes
in a virtual fitting room where consum-
ers are asked to input their dimensions,
retailers can not only reduce the
chance of the consumer returning the
product due to poor fit but also gain
valuable insight into why they are mak-
ing a purchase and, more importantly,
why they are not.
“We are not only giving brands the
data on what sizes they should carry
but what sizes they should carry that
they aren’t carrying,” says Heikki
Haldre, chief executive and co-founder
of virtual fitting room provider Fits.me.
Such data can also be used for justi-
fying investment decisions. Hawes &
Curtis head of ecommerce Antony
Comyns says the shirt maker was
recently considering what new shirts to
add to its range. “We had already put
into work a very slim-fit shirt that was
missing from our range and we did that
with a minimal amount of research
based on very simple information that
people were giving us. We were able to
do some proper analysis from our
Fits.me fitting room, which showed
that we were missing that shirt and it
gave us the numbers to back up what
we initially thought.”
Of course, access to data can be a
thorny issue and, despite the prolifera-
tion of free information in the digital
age, consumers are still fiercely protec-
tive of their privacy. Bombarding con-
sumers with offers or requests for data
can be fraught with danger and
winning the trust of shoppers is not to
be taken for granted. Take email
marketing, for
example. Most
consumers are
only signed up
forahandfulof
fashion retail-
ers’ emails so
you have to
work hard to
make the list.
The Drapers
Customer
InsightReport
2012 found
that42%ofconsumersaresignedupfor
one to three emails, and a further 22%
for four to six. Even when you make the
shortlist, reaching the customer is not a
given. Only 35% open three quarters or
more of the emails they receive from
fashion retailers and 24% open less
than one quarter of them.
Driving decision making
Nevertheless, customer feedback and
opinion is key in driving decision mak-
ing, says McLaughlin. John Lewis
recently changed the order of entering
name and credit card details on its
mobile site as a result of customer feed-
back – a small change that McLaughlin
says really improved conversion rates.
Naturally, there are ways of improv-
ing your chances of getting customers
www.retail-week.com October 2012 Retail Week 9
a boost in return
survey
feedback to
a branded
loyalty card
scheme,
giving users
the chance
to gain extra
points for
every piece
of research
marketing, for
example. Most
FUTURE GAZING – BIG DATA
“In the future, the consumer will be in
control. Every shopper will have instant,
trusted and secure access to all of the
information and data they need to make a
purchase decision, right there and when
they need it, and in the format of their
choice. This could include anything from
relevant purchases they’ve made in the
past and how they rated and reviewed
them, as well as what their friends, trusted
networks and respected others had to
say,” writes Derek Eccleston,head of
research at eDigitalResearch.
“Expert reviews from trusted sources
could also be integrated, alongside
supplier collateral and background
information. Independent operators will
also provide the best price or deal, highest
rewards and most attractive purchase
terms and instantly allow shoppers to
purchase at the click of a button.
“All of this will be secured via a two- or
three-factor authentication to help improve
trust between shopper and retailer.
Finance to support these types of
purchases will be close to instant, too, to
help make the entire customer experience
as smooth and as seamless as possible.”
In association with

10. A
s a cutting-edge fashion
retailer popular with young,
tech-savvy consumers,
Pretty Green generates a sig-
nificant proportion of its sales online.
As such the label, founded in 2009 by
Liam Gallagher, has had to deal with
the unique set of challenges that face
online fashion retailers.
Chief among these is the inability of
shoppers to physically engage with the
productbeforepurchaseand,inparticu-
lar, the impossibility of trying on a gar-
ment before they buy. The upshot is
online conversion rates for clothing
retailers are typically well below high
street conversion rates of 20% to 25%,
while returns are also higher.
each key garment from the range in
every available size. Each permutation
is then photographed at high speed
while FitBot runs rapidly through
thousands of different body shapes.
Now, when a shopper comes to
decide the size of garment they want to
buy, all they need do is input a few
basic measurements (height, neck,
chest, waist, arm length) and they get to
see exactly how the garment will look
on their exact body size and shape
when the item is delivered.
The shopper can choose to see how
other sizes will look, giving a looser or
tighter fit, and will be warned where
the fit may be unsatisfactory, such as in
the sleeve length or collar size.
The deployment of the virtual fitting
room has already delivered some
impressive results. In the first six
months of 2012, Pretty Green’s online
conversion rate soared by 62%, accord-
ing to head of digital Tim Kalic. “We
have tracked our savings and increased
sales on a monthly basis, generating a
very satisfactory return on invest-
ment,” says Kalic.
Question of size
Pretty Green also became aware that
almost three-quarters of buyers did not
know the size they would need to buy
to suit their style. “By enabling them to
tell us their measurements, they didn’t
need to know. Fits.me provides these
potential customers with the visual fit
information they need to make a pur-
chase,” says Kalic.
Consumers can now buy secure in
the knowledge that they are unlikely to
need to return the item for reasons of
fit. Indeed, 79% of all virtual fitting
room users said they either would not
have bought without the fitting room or
would have ordered the wrong size,
guaranteeing returns.
And beyond the positive effects on
conversion rates and returns, the
implementation of Fits.me technology
has also been beneficial to Pretty
Green’s brand loyalty. “As our custom-
ers will receive the garment that fits
them as expected, they will be more
likely to return and purchase again
with confidence,” explains Kalic.
Measureofsuccess
With an eye on rising levels of online
sales, menswear retailer Pretty Green
wanted to find a solution to these prob-
lems. In August 2011, it contacted
Fits.me about deploying its virtual fit-
ting room solution in its online store.
Two months later the software-as-a-
service solution was up and running
and already having a positive effect on
conversion rates by giving Pretty Green
customers the confidence to purchase
clothes having already seen a visual
demonstration of fit.
Doing the FitBot
To create Pretty Green’s image data-
base, Fits.me’s sophisticated robotic
mannequin – a FitBot – is dressed in
www.retail-week.com
“customers
will Be more
likely to
return anD
purchase
again with
conFiDence”
Tim Kalic, Pretty Green
Menswear retailer Pretty Green has seen its online conversion rates soar
since deploying Fits.me’s virtual fitting room solution, writes Nick Hughes
EcommErcE in fAshion
VirtuAl fitting
10 retail week October 2012
Fits.me gives Pretty Green’s online
customers the confidence to buy
Customers can see how an item will fit
them by typing in a few measurements

11. October 2012 retail week 11www.retail-week.com
The Fits.me virtual fitting room helps boost the profitability of online clothing
retailers. Knowing exactly how clothes viewed online are going to fit in the real world
gives customers increased confidence to buy, improving conversion rates by up to
62% and decreasing garment returns by up to 35%. Fits.me counts many well-known
retailers among its customers, including Barbour By Mail, Boden, Ermenegildo Zegna,
Gilt Groupe, Hawes & Curtis, Otto, Pretty Green and Thomas Pink.
Fits.me has won numerous awards for its virtual fitting room technology and is
named by Vogue magazine in its 2012 Online Fashion 100 as one of the most
influential names in digital fashion.
Please contact us for further information:
Email: sales@fits.me
Web: www.fits.me
Tel: +44 (0)845 528 0570

12. www.retail-week.com