IBM brings 3D trial room to fashion portal abof.com

India’s Aditya Birla Group’s fashion portal abof.com has partnered with IBM bringing its visitors a personalized shopping experience, adding a 3D virtual trial room to the store front. IBM also provides customer engagement and order fulfillment capabilities to abof.com, constantly aiming to meet the dynamic demands of the young consumers. The virtual trial room is powered by IBM and integrated technology from business partner Metail, an online fitting technology company. All a shopper needs to do is to input the body measurements to create a digital avatar and he can virtually try any piece of apparel before placing an order. IBM mentioned in the press release:

“The average return rate in the apparel industry is 20 percent with the most common reason being unsatisfactory fit. Since launching the virtual trial room, abof.com has reduced the product return rate to nearly zero. In addition, the conversion rates for products available with 3D trial is 400 percent higher than the industry norm.”

abof.com aims to offer the latest style tips, fashion content and trends which for which it needed a well-integrated e-commerce solution bringing a dynamic and interactive online platform. IBM accomplished this requirement with the 3D virtual room to deliver a unique brand identity. “In order to tap and increase the market share in a highly competitive industry, it is imperative to differentiate ourselves from already established players. We aim to grow our market share by offering a curated range of merchandise that goes beyond conventional boundaries to deliver quality service to our customers,” said Prashant Gupta, President & CEO, abof.com

“IBM helped us to set up our online business in a record time of five months. With IBM’s global expertise and local experience in eCommerce space, we are optimistic that the company will emerge as the most admired player in online fashion segment,” he added.

The e-commerce website has another set of differentiating features that includes the superior search and curated fashion content it offers to shoppers. If a shopper is specifically looking for a particular product, he can upload the image on the site using visual search and he’ll be led to a similar looking item. Also, a shopper can match a celebrity quotient as the intuitive search can lead him to the desired products matching a fashion trend inspired by a celebrity. Hence, by leveraging IBM’s content management solution, abof.com is all geared up to offer fresh, targeted and relevant fashion content to its customers.

“Many online retailers struggle to engage millennials in meaningful, thoughtful ways, all based on their behavior and preferences,” said Harriet Green, General Manager, Watson IoT, Commerce and Education, IBM. “Through this collaboration with IBM, abof.com will create truly unique buying moments and ensure prompt delivery of each item, exactly the type of experience that builds brand loyalty.”

IBM-powered solutions have already facilitated abof.com to expand its reachability, attracting more than three million visitors in the first three months of operation. abof.com fashion portal currently reaches out to more than 500 cities in India.