Magic Mirror, On The Wall

By Matt Pillar, chief editor

January 2017 Innovative Retail Technologies

Why the fitting room might become the epicienter of customer engagement in apparel retailing.

For apparel retailers, what goes on in the fitting room is a direct precursor to their customers’ all-important stop at the POS. Recognizing that the fitting room experience is, for many consumers, the most lackluster (or downright disappointing) element of the clothes shopping exercise, a slew of tech startups have set out to turn the fitting room experience on its ear. A few months back, we brought you a story about Nadia Shouraboura’s innovative and tech-centric approach to the fitting room experience at Hointer. Today, we’ll look at how two companies are turning a centuries-old fitting room fixture — the mirror — into an extensible customer data gold mine for apparel retailers.

"Cross-channel identification is really important. If you can give customers a reason to authenticate early on, there’s an ability to connect all the dots."

Healey Cypher, founder and CEO, Oak Labs

Built For Consumers, Valued By Merchants
When Salvador Nissi Vilcovsky set out to design and market a “smart” mirror for retail fitting rooms, he wasn’t looking to fundamentally change the way consumers behave when they’re trying on clothes. He simply surmised that such a significant piece of retail real estate — a wall of glass — could deliver more value to customers and merchants alike than merely a reflection. Viclovsky is founder of MemoMi, a nearly four-year old startup that’s gaining traction in pilot sites with some high-end apparel notables including Neiman Marcus. At its core, MemoMi’s MemoryMirror enables customers to see 360-degree back and side views of their outfits using simple body gestures or controls on the company’s opt-in mobile app. Shoppers can also change colors, patterns, and styles — as well as accessorize their outfits — using equally intuitive gestures and without removing the outfit and trying on another. “We’re trying to preserve the customer’s behavior in the dressing room, but giving them much more in return than they can get from a passive mirror,” he says. While the original intent was to create a differentiated experience for the customer, the maturation of Vilcovsky’s vision is resulting in much more than the avoidance of a strained neck and multiple apparel changes. Recent iterations of the MemoryMirror are giving customers the option to share their fitting room sessions with friends in high-definition video, save certain looks in their profile, and even complete their purchases without leaving the fitting room. In turn, the size and style data generated in the fitting room session can be shared with the merchant if the shopper chooses to do so, opening up a rich opportunity to make instant recommendations to up-sell, cross-sell, and collect information if the customer approves it. “We can create classifiers that recognize when a customer is trying on jeans and a black top, for instance, and provide recommendations based on that,” says Vilcovsky. “Some brands are keenly interested in this data; others simply want to improve the customer experience.” But MemoMi isn’t the only company bringing magic to fitting room mirrors. Healey Cypher, who made a name for himself as chief of staff and head of retail innovation at eBay, walked away from the e-commerce staple in 2015 to launch Oak Labs, Inc. His company’s flagship product, the Oak Mirror, takes a more blatant approach to presenting the fitting room mirror as a device, not a fixture. The mirror’s touch screen interface encourages shoppers to customize the ambiance of fitting room lighting, explore product recommendations, and seek assistance from store associates with the touch of virtual prompts on the mirror’s surface. Leveraging data transmitted from RFID-tagged merchandise, the mirror recognizes products as they enter the fitting room and synchronizes with the merchant’s inventory system, which, on the back end, enables automated product recommendations and instant communication with mobile device-wielding associates. Oak Labs is also keeping some good company, having successfully piloted with Ralph Lauren in its Polo NYC flagship store.

“Our early findings are that 84 percent of consumers have a meaningful engagement with the mirror if given the option,” says Cypher. The definition of “meaningful” is an impressive average of 5.7 clicks per fitting room visit. What’s more, further analysis of those clicks reveals a 59 percent larger basket size among those who engage the interface. But Cypher sees his company’s fitting room roots as just the beginning. “There’s an inflection point happening in all of retail, and that’s the convergence of digital and physical experiences,” he says. “The Oak Mirror is just one node of the software-driven intelligence layer that stores need to optimize what people — both customers and associates — are doing at any given time.”

The Role Of The Associate In A Digital World
Cypher’s point about optimizing associate activity isn’t lost on Vilcovsky. “The role of the associates is critical on many levels,” he says. “First, if they’re not engaged with the deployment, it will fail. The use case and the interface must be simple and clear, and it needs to be easily taught in a short period of time.” It’s also important, he says, to demonstrate to associates — especially those who are commissioned in high-end apparel environments — how customer-facing technology will help them manage relationships and close more sales. MemoMi is branching out to eyewear and cosmetics, where smaller versions of its mirrors are enabling consumers to similarly save and share their looks. Those engagements are naturally even more hands-on for sales associates, and Vilcovsky says the value of the tool for relationship management is easily understood.

"The role of the associates is critical on many levels. … if they’re not engaged with the deployment, it will fail."

Salvador Nissi Vilcovsky, founder, MemoMi

For Cypher’s part, he says associate enablement and efficiency are products of accurate and seamless data. “The application of RFID in this context is resulting in a set of data that’s never before been gathered in the history of retail,” he explains. “We know what percentage of each SKU is going into the fitting room and how frequently. We can easily report on conversion rates and basket size and land on what’s converting the most and the least. We can see the sales impact of certain nuances in colors, styles,” he explains.

Equally important to the associate, Oak Labs can report on fitting room service levels. “There’s a very positive correlation between service levels and conversion, and fitting room service time is often two to four times longer than the merchant’s perception.” RFID enables the associate to scan an item and receive instant inventory position and location data, lending to an average service time improvement in pilot stores. Where it used to take more than six minutes for an associate to track down, retrieve, and deliver a specific blouse, for instance, it now takes less than two. “If the store itself can monitor sales and SKU velocity, the implications are profound,” says Cypher. “Systems can automatically optimize on-shelf availability by requesting updates to the front of the house from the stockroom, in turn optimizing stockroom availability by automating the purchase order process.”

Cypher’s enthusiasm for a software-driven, seamless retail experience is telling of his vision for Oak Labs. “We started in the fitting room, but we’re building a connected store platform to allow for rapid development of experiences using software-driven touch, signage, and mobile technologies,” he says.

Breaking Down The Physical/Digital Barrier
Vilcovsky and Cypher share a vision for retail experiences that are unencumbered by the boundaries between physical and digital experiences. The mirrors themselves bring decidedly e-commercelike features, such as recommendations and social sharing, to the brick-and-mortar realm. “The purchase experience follows the consumer out of the store,” says Vilcovsky. “When you visit another Neiman store in another city, or shop on its e-commerce site, you have this profile and preference data at your fingertips.” Cypher says that when these profiles are shared with merchants, the so-called “web rooming” phenomenon — whereby shoppers research online and buy in stores — is far less vexing for merchants. “Cross-channel identification is really important. If you can give customers a reason to authenticate early on, there’s an ability to connect all the dots. Pushing their fitting room experiences to their phones — like an abandoned cart for the physical world — just might be that compelling reason.”

Technologies like those created by MemoMi and Oak Labs aren’t just flashy, they’re functional tools in this omni-channel retail environment. By providing shoppers with the same look, feel, and service levels they get online, both consumers and merchants benefit from a seamless flow of information that aids and informs customers’ next visit to your store. Technologies like those created by MemoMi and Oak Labs aren’t just flashy, they’re functional tools in this omni-channel retail environment. By providing shoppers with the same look, feel, and service levels they get online, both consumers and merchants benefit from a seamless flow of information that aids and informs customers’ next visit to your store.