One of the major problems of online shopping is finding the perfect fit. Over 40% of online purchases result in returns. Although many virtual fitting rooms have been established, the problem was still ongoing, until now. Welcome to Fits.me!
Fits.me works with retailers to increase profits and decrease returns of online purchases. On a retailer’s site, for any online shopper, Fits.me will display a real photograph from its database that shows exactly how the garment they’re looking at will look on their body size and shape, simply by asking them for just a few basic measurements. With further single clicks, the shopper can see instantly how they will look wearing other sizes, before choosing the size that fits them the way they like it. The Fits.me Virtual Fitting Room will even alert the shopper to where the fit of the chosen garment may be wrong – for example, in arm length, or collar size, just as a shop assistant would do in a bricks-and-mortar store.
After Fits.me reported receiving £5 million in Series A funding last week, we decided to interview founder Heikki Haldre on his success and the future of Fits.me.
Heikki Haldre, Founder and Chief Executive of Fits.me
Heikki Haldre is driven by big ideas and innovation. He has a constant desire to learn, having attended four universities. He also started five companies before Fits.me, including one in fashion retail and another in e-commerce. Big ideas require innovation and he find myself energized tackling the “impossible” solutions and being with an A-class team.
When asked about the inspiration behind Fits.me, Haldre stated the following: “Fits.me is the solution for the biggest problem that the fashion industry faces – the issue of returns. The fitting room is such a brilliant sales tool for bricks-and-mortar retailer, but it is technologically difficult to recreate online. This was our inspiration and gave us drive. “Fit” is not simply about the size – it is about personal style too. It is no coincidence that Fits.me is the most commercially successful fitting solution when we are the only solution on the market that can visualise “fit”.
Fits.me virtual fitting room clients include large mass-market apparel retailers, like Adidas, however their solution remains versatile and cost effective even for the smaller retailers, such as John Smedley. Based on SaaS technology, their solution to the problem of online fit is simple to implement. The luxury brands, such as their client Ermenegildo Zegna, use it to delight their customers and provide the best service. The big brands, such as Hugo Boss, use it to deliver more sales and reduce the number of returns and operating costs. For their global clients, such as Thomas Pink, they help reduce customer hesitation due to the various international sizing standards, allowing the retailer to increase their international sales and expansion. Their target market is truly global with offices in London, Munich and Paris and they will be expanding into the US shortly.
There are a number of marketing strategies for Fits.me, which include direct sales force that has been delivering impressive results, supported by a great marketing team. Their case studies also provide examples of the impressive results that Fits.me can deliver. In addition to this, they support the business with participation at industry events, fantastic media support and access to interview our retail-clients.
Case studies by far have been the most successful marketing strategy.” We are the only fitting solution that has published the results from our clients. There is nothing better to prove the success of our product to the market than the advocacy of our clients”, states Haldre.
The company has been funded in two tranches, in 2009 and 2010; they received seed and early-stage investment of just under $2.7m from Smartcap and Angel investors, and $0.7m in grants. In 2012 they opened our Series A round with a target of $6.5m, and just closed that round having raised over $7m.
The new funding will be used to support accelerated sales and marketing programmes – including continuing expansion into France, Germany, other EU countries and the USA – and continue to scale up their operations to meet predicted demand in the UK.
Virtual fitting rooms have the potential to change the face of online shopping. When asking Haldre about the impact of virtual fitting rooms and its benefits, he stated the following:
Virtual fitting rooms are already changing the shopping experience! We have 12 live clients, with many more signed and going live soon.
For retailers, Fits.me strengthens their business and enhances their brand. There are three main benefits of virtual fitting rooms:
- Customers enjoy a vastly improved shopping experience. It is far closer to the in-store experience, and the visualisation of fit gives customers a confidence to buy that previously only trying on a garment offered. Shoppers are less likely to choose a size that doesn’t fit them, reducing the possibility of returns and disappointment, meaning that customers have more positive brand experiences.
- Retailers benefit directly from offering their customers an improved shopping experience. Customers convert at up to twice ‘pre-deployment’ rates and, because most garments are sent back to retailers due to reasons of fit, return rates are also significantly reduced. One of our clients – Pretty Green – has seen their returns for reasons of fit fall 77%.
- There are also clear environmental benefits from reducing returns. With the average returns/exchange rates, it takes 162 deliveries to sell (and keep sold) 100 garments – therefore retailers have to pay for 62% more shipments than the number of garments they really sell. By reducing returns significantly, we reduce the impact on the environment and there are obvious cost benefits there for retailers too.
Fits.me has a bright future ahead, with the appropriate data, retailers will be able to maximize profits. “Fits.me is not simply a fitting solution. We are building a platform which will enable us to grow us much bigger. We are the only solution that literally sees the customers at their last moment of the purchase decision, the fitting room. We are probably already the world’s largest database of customer measurements and their fit preferences. From this, we can see why people buy, and more importantly, why they are not buying. This data helps retailers sell better fitting garments online and offline, enabling them to get the best results in the highly competitive apparel market. Customer data allows us to provide unprecedented insights and we are always happy to share some of our industry knowledge with analysts, media and other industry players.”
Fits.me has a strong exit vision, but is currently focused on their growth. Before exiting they will be raise more funding, with Series B targeted for late this year/early next year.
By Lolita A. Alford