H&M is working on a virtual fitting room

H&Mbeyond, the Swedish fashion giant’s innovation lab, and NeXR Technologies are working together to develop a virtual fitting room that will allow customers to try on perfectly fitted outfits quickly and easily.

Better shopping experiences, fewer returns

A prototype of the digital fitting room is planned for the summer of 2021. In some German shops, customers will then be able to have a scan taken of their bodies, after which they will receive a personal avatar, an exact digital image of themselves. With the help of an app, customers can assign their avatar various styles and outfits, to see what suits them and facilitate the buying decision.

The technology is the result of a collaboration between NeXR Technologies and H&Mbeyond, H&M‘s Berlin-based innovation lab, which is responsible for developing and testing products and services that are or may be relevant to the organisation worldwide. In addition to improving the shopping experience, H&M also wants to use the technology to see what impact it can have on customers’ return behaviour.

“We are always looking for innovative solutions and technologies that make the shopping experience in retail more attractive and exciting,” says Oliver Lange of H&Mbeyond. “With the pilot project, we want to test together with our customers whether ‘digital fitting rooms’ can help them choose styles and clothing sizes and ultimately make a purchase decision – NeXR is a great partner for this.”

Not a first

This kind of virtual fitting room is not entirely new. Zalando, for example, has experimented with it before in Madrid. The fashion platform opened a pop-up store where customers could have their bodies scanned and try on garments virtually.