The process of the in store clothing shop, as now experienced,

may  soon be a thing of old.

…

There is a multi-sensory progress to clothes shopping:

seeing a garment poised on its hanger;

appreciating the quality of craftsmanship;

touching a garment;

succumbing to the emotive pull of wanting to have it;

and finally, if the love conquers, committing to the purchase.

…

All this, in roughly three stages, takes time to develop.

…

1.  The initial allure:

the visual:  how a garment presents on its own,

what summons the initial customer interest …

colour

design

silhouette

…

(image homedit.com):

…

2.   The  attraction deepens:

the touch:  how a garment feels upon light caress,

soft

smooth

easy

…

(image from earthtimes.org):

…

3.   If other influences  align, such as:

size

price

uniqueness

then its off to the changing room to stand the ultimate test  –

the try on for body fit  and body feel

…

(image from loolk-fabulous.com):

…

Yet,  the seemingly slow tempo of ‘garment courting’,

which crescendos into the decision of whether

to come hither, home with me or stay, where thee be,

is set to play out to a greatly different tune.

…

(image from sodahead.com):

…

Enter the world of virtual changing rooms

The idea for virtual changing rooms started several years ago.

It is now cropping up all over the globe,

in various stages of development and usage.

It will eventually change how we clothes shop

and perhaps influence, to some extent, the psychology of shopping –

the emotional connectivity to the experience.

…

An overview

The ultimate virtual changing room will be set

in stores with little to no tangible stock.

Uploaded images of clothing, available for sale, will be super-imposed on

the bodies of the buyers as they stand in front of specialized mirrors

and view themselves in

“60- inch screens [from which] they select clothing items they want to try on

and see themselves dressed in the products, within seconds.”

(from Business of Fashion, Daily Digest)

…

The virtual clothes move in sync with the customer’s movements,

generating a perception of how the garments will flow

when actually on the body.

…

Some of the benefits:

for a retailer/company-

1.   reducing and/or eliminating management of in-store stock

2.   almost complete emphasis on e-commerce

3.   potential for more buyer spending

given relative shop ease/speed of the experience

…

for the customer- 

1.   pick and self click purchase by scanning the garment bar code

2.   more incentive to ‘super-impose’ more clothing, for quick ensemble options

3.  quick/efficient, less time consuming shop

…

Change in the changing room and beyond

Obvious factors will eventually fast track

the virtual clothes shopping experience into the commonplace .

Given the fast pace nature of our techno-driven existence,

every aspect of life and living seems vulnerable to the demand

of quick time completion.

We seem to have spare little time to luxuriant in the lingering.

…

As yet, the in-store virtual changing room continues to evolve,

from imagined to real world.

Retail concerns continue to invest in the techno-knowledge

to transform the clothes shop experience.

The emphasis is on the provision of the next novelty factor.

Yet, with this innovation the

shop romance of ‘garment courting’

will slowly wane.

…

The merits of the visual shop.  Convinced?

(from Fitnect):

…

(from COITOR IT TECH):

…

For more reading on the virtual changing room, have a look at:

http://www.businessoffashion.com/2014/07/japan-urban-research-experiments-virtual-changing-booths.html

…

online site:  The Business of Fashion (BOF) Daily Digest

article:  ‘In Japan, Urban Research Experiments

             with Virtual Changing Booths

publication date:  Monday, 7 July 2014

…