RFID is – in my mind – the unquestionable most critical technology to not only smoothing the fitting-room experience, but to enhancing it and making it more productive. The mere idea that a customer would wait a lot less time for another color or size of a desired item, increases the probability that the experience will convert into a sale. The online avatar technology – though viable – may need more time and refining before avatars will be accurate enough to ensure the proper fit.

I sure hope that retailers get excited about testing and learning with some of these emerging tools, as the dressing room and finding fit is THE friction point for apparel — followed by getting good associate support. The careful dance is to figure out how to execute them in a manner that works for everyone and delivers on brand expectations.

I personally feel luxury requires a heavier human touch with these tools making things simpler. Example: use the mirror to help you find what to try on, tap a button in the dressing room when you need help and a live person comes to graciously inquire what item you need and bring it back with a smile. In a more mainstream setting (like Macy’s) where associate support is light, going full-steam with this kind of automation and digital support makes sense.

In the meantime, I’m headed to make my avatar! 🙂

Every technology has its pitfalls and, when it comes to dressing rooms, those are, more often than not, human. Take the online/now offline measuring tools that allow you to create an avatar — or at least make sure your jeans actually fit. Great tool, but only if you accept that you have a 38 inch waist instead of the 32 you imagine you have. Or the RFID product selector. Again, great tool as long as there are enough associates to hustle stock from the showroom to the fitting room. Ditto with the mirrors which give you a 360 degree view of yourself, but don’t eliminate personal insecurities. So from a technology point of view the answer may be: all of the above. Now, if we we could just re-engineer the human ego and improve self-perception.

Where to begin? Personal privacy in a fitting room with mirrors measuring a body in the process of dressing? Creepy factor. Avatars built upon measuring a body to match inventory with the same measurements is an extremely linear solution. Having little to do with how an individual likes their clothes to fit, look and FEEL on their body. Ever wonder why someone’s clothes are too tight or too loose? Fit preferences. Size is not fit. Measurements are not fit. Fit is personal. Fit is a complex multi-dimensional set of individual sensory-preferences, magnified by dozens of product attributes like fabric, fiber, stretch, woven, etc.

What does make sense? The ability to contact and interact with a sales associate while half-dressed in a dimly lit cubicle, staring into the full-body reflection of one’s self.

First: nothing says more about the state of retail than the fact that this topic is being touted as new. Prada was the first store to introduce the early versions of these concepts–that was in 2001 and vendors were developing systems before that. So decision makers at these brands that think they are offering a “new experience” are deluding themselves.

However, technologies have advanced and there is more that can be done for shoppers in the dressing room than the early days, but it’s only as valuable as getting past technology for technology’s sake or technology that the brand thinks is viable because it’s cool and (wink) new. If the experience and supporting technologies add real value for the consumer while respecting their intelligence and privacy, it’s worth exploring. That said, so many fitting room negative experiences have simple solutions, like keeping them clean, maintaining inventory, maintaining safety, and having knowledgeable sales staff on-hand.

I’m excited about the possibilities that technology will bring to the fitting room. Trying on different colored sweaters, jackets, etc. Without having to actually try them on. Put one on, look in the “mirror” and watch how technology can change the color. That’s just one example of what’s coming down the road. At first it will seem clever, cool, different and interesting. Eventually, it will become the norm. It will take a while, as in several years (at least), but what we’re experiencing now is a conversion to using technology as part of the shopping experience like we’ve never seen.