In terms of shopping – and just in general, really – the internet was revolutionary. Not only can we browse thousands of different brands and millions of products from the comfort of our sofas, but we can also order these same products straight to our home. Long gone are the days of stuffy changing rooms and awkward interactions with sales assistants! Now we can curate wardrobes of stylish, seasonal clothing without leaving the front door. But this golden age of easy shopping definitely has its drawbacks, one of which is the problem of returns.
What is Our Returns Problem?
The internet has made it so easy to return the clothes we buy that it’s become a full-blown problem. Around 30% of consumers now deliberately overbuy knowing that they’ll return some of their purchases. That could mean buying multiple sizes of an item or buying too many clothes for their budget, overdoing the order so that they can pick their favourites and send the rest.
There are a number of issues here. The biggest (at least in our opinion) is the impact returning clothes has on the planet. Every time you send something back to the retailer, you’re adding to the total emissions of that product. Retailers and postal services often use heavy-duty, not very eco-friendly trucks to deliver packages, and adding yours to the pile adds to the carbon dioxide emissions produced.
It also leads to waste. A vast amount of returned items never make their way back into the inventory, but instead are shipped off to landfills to slowly decay. In fact, it’s estimated that 10% of all returns see this fate, creating an abundance of needless waste.
What’s the Solution?
As retailers, offering returns services is essentially a must. Shoppers want to know they can return clothing, and without the option, they may be put off from buying altogether.
So, instead of removing their returns services, retailers instead have to look at how they can reduce the chance that a customer returns an item. It’s a tricky task, but there are solutions. One that embraces the modern world of technology and could be the key is augmented reality, where businesses can bring the changing room to your home – which is definitely as cool as it sounds.
Virtual Changing Rooms Could Help Cut Down Returns
Businesses have slowly been incorporating augmented reality (AR) into their models for some time now, but uptake has been at a bit of a snail’s pace. Now, though, with developments in technology, and VR already making its way into the mainstream, brands are paying more attention to how AR could help them. Enter the virtual changing room.
By using AR, users can “try on” the clothes they’re browsing at home. Through their laptop or phone camera they can try on realistic 3D versions of the clothes they’re looking at. The AR tech detects where the person is (in the same way that filters detect your face on Snapchat and Instagram) and fits the clothes to them. To you, it looks as though the dress you’re thinking about buying is suddenly on your body, in your living room!
Of course, this isn’t a flawless idea. The sizing might not be quite the same when you get the item and you can’t feel the fabric through a camera, but is a smart solution that seems to be working. One report, for example, looked at J.C Penney’s use of AR and virtual changing rooms, noting that they saw both an increase in conversions online and a reduction in their returns rate. A win-win!
Keep Up to Date With Sustainable Solutions With Finsu
At Finsu, we’re sustainable fashion enthusiasts. From revolutionary materials that cut down on water to innovations like this that solve an issue that’s been having a negative impact on our planet, we like to stay up to date with what’s going on. If you’re also interested in sustainable fashion, be sure to follow our Journal for more informative articles, or start shopping through our wide collection of sustainable clothing!