Why Virtual Dressing Rooms Will Be Key for Differentiating in Retail

The days of retail clothiers needing to stock multiple garment sizes could be drawing to a close. NOBAL Technologies developed a product poised to revolutionize the customer retail experience with its interactive iMirror solution. Daniel Maher, VP of Technology at NOBAL, joined Retail Refined's Melissa Gonzalez at NRF to talk about the positive impact iMirror is already having on retail customers. There are many advantages to this virtual approach to trying on clothes. Customers can mix-and-match products without searching for the store to find an item to then try on. Need a specific size that isn’t available now? Not a problem, said Maher. The interactive technology creates a detailed photo scan containing 200 measurement points so that a consumer can determine the fit they need and then buy the correct size in-store or have it shipped to them later. Maher walked Gonzalez through the process. "It’s all on-screen instructions,” Maher said. “You walk up to the screen and select that you want to create an avatar. Then you step on the X and do a 360-degree spin over a span of six seconds. The mirror will take pictures of you that get sent to an API service. And then that service sends back your avatar. That avatar lives with you. You download it into your phone, and you keep it.” These avatars will work whenever someone shops with that retailer. For retail partners, iMirror is a true winner with opportunities to increase basket size. NOBAL CEO Bill Roberts indicated retail partners reporting basket-size increases of 15-20% when using iMirror, with many seeing ROI in less than a week. While NOBAL is just getting started with iMirror, Maher already could see a bright future for the technology. “Because we built it in such a way that allows you to take your avatar with you on your phone, you can bring it with you to any future iMirror experiences. And the future idea is that you’ll be able to use it online as well if you’re shopping online, and you could get those same fitness recommendations. Another idea is importing your avatar into the metaverse and then shop at retailers’ digital stores online.”