Rakuten Fits Me launches retail industry’s first sizing search tool

Last month Rakuten Fits Me, a global provider of fit recommendation technology, announced the launch of Fit Match, a clothing search tool offering online shoppers the confidence that their purchases will fit them.

Rakuten Fits Me’s core product, Fit Origin, a leading fashion technology, accurately identifies apparel based on the unique dimensions of online shoppers. The company is already helping leading retailers like Rhone, QVC and Henri Lloyd to drive greater personalization in the way they engage, promote and sell to consumers online – and through this process improve consumer confidence issues by providing sound size and fit advice.

With the introduction of Fit Match, online retailers can go even further to transform the way they display clothes for each and every shopper. Fit Match is a search engine add-on that integrates into search and product listing page capabilities. When activated on a retailer’s website, consumers will only be shown garments that fit their body profile and are currently in stock. This helps shoppers to find the styles they love and feel great in, and also streamlines the steps to purchase for retailers.

Research recently carried out by Fits Me found 95% of shoppers say finding items that fit perfectly is a key priority when shopping online. It also revealed that search functionality increases customer loyalty, as 83% of those who use search said they will return to the store for more items in future. A further 73% said that using search improves their shopping experience, with 41% saying they would benefit from only being shown items that fit them well.

The Fit Match algorithm combines expertise gathered from categorizing garment types, attribute mapping, data science algorithms and historical consumer data, to create a deep understanding of body shapes, measurements and preferences. It also supports global differences in shopper shape, preference and build, with data collected from over 30 million unique profiles to create accurate recommendations.

Shoppers are able to rank garments in order of fit preference, and can further refine their selection using colour, brand or style preference filters, safe in the knowledge they are only seeing items that will fit. Fit Match will also provide guidance, based on the shopper’s unique body profile, alongside size recommendation on the item details page.

By providing a shopping experience that is unique to the individual, Fit Match increases conversions and transaction values, while reducing returns. It is intended for all retailers, particularly those with lots of different size conventions, to simplify the process of finding the perfect fit online.

Vicky Zadeh, CEO at Rakuten Fits Me commented on the new service: “As eCommerce continues to fuel global retail growth, it is critical for merchants to stay ahead of evolving consumer expectations. The impact of fast fashion means online competition is fierce; so for retailers, customer retention and increasing conversions are really key – and being able to provide consumers with products that fit perfectly is a critical revenue driver. Our goal with Fit Origin and Fit Match is to arm retailers with innovative and powerful technologies that exceed consumer demand and drive profitable business value.”

Fit Match leverages Fit Origin technology that takes just three simple measurements from the consumer – height, weight, age – and then calculates a consumer’s most likely body shape, to determine the perfect fit for any garment. Simple data entry calculates detailed body measurements to find clothes that fit that shopper based on their body shape and measurements. This information is stored by Fit Match so shoppers will only have to enter it once.

Fit Match helps shoppers focus on finding styles and items they’ll keep coming back to. Learning from shoppers’ preferences and unique body shapes is how the fashion industry can evolve from being mass-manufacture-focused to focusing on the individual, and help lead the way to making the whole fashion industry become less wasteful.

Learn more about Fit Match here:

This post was originally published on the Fits Me blog.