By Elton Gomes
If you are willing to send 10 3D body scans of yourself to Amazon, you will be entitled to $250 gift card from the e-commerce giant. Although the proposition might seem absurd, it is Amazon’s attempt to improve retailers’ understanding of how human bodies change shape over a period of time and thereby, help them produce better fitting clothes.
Amazon is inviting people to fill an online survey that takes into account how much their weight and fitness have fluctuated during the past one year. The survey will also see whether participants are planning to lose weight.
Here’s what happened
In October 2017, Tech Crunch reported that Amazon had purchased Body Labs. Body Labs is a company that aimed to create “true-to-life 3D body models to support various b2b software applications such as virtually trying on clothes or photorealistic avatars for gaming.”
Body Labs’ Soma Shape API technology can be employed to help to e-commerce retailers wishing to sell custom-sized clothes. Soma can also be used to virtually try on clothes or tailor recommendations based on the type of fit customers are looking for.
Bill OFarrell, co-founder and CEO, claims that an accurate 3D body scan can allow “the body itself [to] be delivered as the platform and around which goods and services are designed, manufactured, bought and sold, recommended.
Due to free shipping and easy return policies on e-commerce sites, a lot of people end up returning their purchases. In India, roughly 37 to 42 percent of all fashion apparel orders are cancelled or returned. This could mean that people are ordering multiple sizes of clothes and returning whatever does not fit.
Why you should care
Using 3D body scans to purchase perfect fitting clothes will be a huge benefit for customers. The technology will give e-commerce websites a chance to improve efficiency as they are likely to experience a drop in cancellations and returns. The 3D body scanning facility will help consumers decide a perfect fit online. As India awaits its own size chart, finalising measurements online will surely be a big step in combining technology and fashion.