Zalando lets a computer give you fashion advice

Can a computer understand fashion? Zalando believes so, and launches a virtual stylist: from now on, an algorithm chooses what would be the ideal outfit for every customer. The online fashion retailer will also integrate physical stores in his platform next year.

An algoritme “with styling expertise”

Zalando has started using machine learning to create individual outfits for customers: the fashion retailer launches the Algorithmic Fashion Companion (AFC), an algorithm “with styling expertise” that suggests outfits that match the customer’s most recent purchases. Developers at Zalando have created an algorithm that identifies garments and then combines them into outfits.

“All it needs is training data that tells it what makes a good outfit”, product manager Marta Skassa states in a press release. These ‘training data’ consisted of more than 200,000 outfits created by stylists, primarily from Zalando’s curated shopping service Zalon.

The virtual stylist will be available for free: “Customers often tell us that they find it difficult to combine items and that they appreciate it to get inspiration and fashion advice,” Skassa continues. From Zalando’s point of view however, it may also have a thing or two to do with the fact that customers who see outfits (rather than separate pieces of clothing) appear to have a higher conversion rate and a larger shopping basket.

Computer knows best

Zalando was able to prove that the system works through a man versus machine competition. According to a consumer evaluation, the margin of error in humans turned out to be slightly higher than in the algorithm: an outfit composed by humans was found to be poor in 16.9 % of the cases, outfits composed by the AFC only failed in 13,9 % of the cases. Both have a success rate of around 50 %, Skassa says confidently.

Having survived the first tests, the AFC is now ready to be rolled out. Starting this week, the virtual stylist will be available for both male and female customers in all seventeen countries where Zalando is active. The system recommends matching based on what customers have recently bought or added to their wish list.

Zalando adds physical stores worldwide

Meanwhile, Zalando is also incorporating physical stores into its network. By the end of the year, 600 stores will connect their store supplies to the Zalando platform, so that shoppers can also purchase directly from them online. The orders are then delivered from the physical stores, which are often closer to the customer than a central warehouse. For Zalando, this step removes the inventory and fulfilment costs, while at the same time enabling same or next day deliveries.

The system, which Zalando calls ‘Connected Retail’, is based on Alibaba‘s New Retail: “Platforms such as Alibaba and JD.com have largely dissolved the boundaries between online and offline”, says Zalando VP Carsten Keller, who also sees this model as the future of retail in Europe. “We will therefore roll out the model with a large number of other partners over the coming months.” Connected Retail is ready for internationalisation in 2019, when the Netherlands will be one of the first target markets.