Gap in Online market

After being able to back up my idea with suitable research I decided to look at the online market as well. As discussed in the previous post, the current Australian website doesn't (in my opinion) reflect the product or the brand accurately, so it made sense to think about a whole new website for the UK market.

My first idea with the website ( in terms of website features) was a virtual fitting room. In which the customer can either try a garment on a picture of one of the models or upload a picture of themselves.
The reason for this online service is because buying things online one can often not know the exact length, fit, etc of the garment and what is often the case is that it looks very different on a picture to what it does on. With such a specialist item such as a fur coat it is ver useful to know the measurements of the model in the picture and be able to compare it with the chosen garment on her (or the customer) in the virtual fitting room.

The clothing Retail 2013 report by Mintel http://academic.mintel.com/display/683749/, has a section supporting this.

"Mintel’s Fashion Online – UK – August 2013 found that one of the main barriers to shopping online is fit and consequently a quarter of women who have bought clothes online in the last 12 months are in favour of virtual fitting rooms that allow you to visualise what clothes will look like on.

People who shop online at Topshop stand out as being particularly interested in virtual fitting rooms. While the retailer has trialled virtual fitting technology in the past, it does not appear to offer this option at present. H&M has a virtual dressing room that lets browsers pick one of the featured models to wear the clothes, but it does not allow shoppers to input their measurements. Meanwhile, Warehouseoffered a service provided by Metail that allowed the user to enter their height, weight and bra size to create a 3D version of themselves onto which they can impose dresses"

Another benefit, according to Mintel, is "Key analysis: Interest in online fitting tools peaks among consumers who browse online but tend to buy in-store and finding a solution to the issue of fit could mean that more of these consumers complete their purchases online. Furthermore, returns are costly for retailers and helping customers select the correct fitting clothes will lower these return rates."

Below is something a chart by Mintel with reasons customers shop online. I have posted it to keep note when making the website to keep these features in mind when it comes to the logistics of the website.