Tech

Walmart tries a new virtual tool that lets online shoppers test clothes on a model before they buy

It marks the retail giant’s first use of Zeekit, a virtual fitting room startup it acquired last May.
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Walmart

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Try this on for size—well, virtually: Walmart rolled out a new tool that lets shoppers check out clothes on a model that matches their body type and skin tone before they check out.

  • The feature, called Choose My Model, is the retail giant’s first use of Zeekit, a virtual fitting room startup it acquired last May.
  • Currently in beta with 50 models, Walmart plans to more than double that number in the next few months, Cheryl Ainoa, its SVP of new businesses and emerging tech for Walmart Global Tech, told CNBC.

Boosted: “Everything comes back to providing the customer with the confidence to make that purchase,” Denise Incandela, EVP of apparel and private brands for Walmart US, told CNBC. “We want to have a best-in-class shopping experience online and we feel like this is shopping of the future and we wanted to lead the way.”

  • It could also help lower return rates, she noted.

It’s not the only retailer with big plans for the tech (see: Gap and Shopify). But consumers have been a bit more hesitant: Only 10% of shoppers had ever used virtual fitting rooms, per a Harris Poll-Retail Brew survey last June.

  • Perhaps that’ll change with more availability. Walmart said it’ll later introduce a feature that lets customers upload their own image to virtually try things on.

+1: Check out our virtual fitting room guide for an in-depth breakdown of the tech.—JS

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.