Denim fit has always been one of the major concerns both for shoppers and retailers .
Shoppers , esp women , are exasperated trying umpteen number of jeans to find their right fit – spending hours in the changing room . Retailers , on the other hand, would be very happy to have more jeans sold per unit time – but that is possible only if the customers can find their right fit easily and quickly within a myriad of jeans brands, styles, fits , cuts and all…And if the customers are coming to a mall and want to know which of the denim shops could provide them the right fit , it would be a great value addition for the customers and retailers both..
To this end , Malls in Southland, California , have installed the Me-Ality digital sizing machines that scan shoppers and dispense shopping tips based on the person’s shape and size as LA times reports .
Called Me-Ality Size Matching Stations, the machines are about the size of two telephone booths. To get measured, a shopper steps inside and stands still with hands on her sides. Once the machine is activated, a white column inside (called a measuring "wand") circles the person for about 60 seconds while taking thousands of measurements of her body.
The customer is then given recommendations for different styles, brands, sizes etc that are suited for his/her body. These are from the brands that are available in that particular mall. These machines are found to be useful by many customers – though some find their recommendations coming on the higher side.
But , it is technology at the forefront to solve a major problem in denim purchasing. Taking it further , if these machines could be developed further and connected to a citywide database , the shopper could easily know what would be the best place to go to buy jeans in the whole city . And of course, over a period of time, this could develop into a national database and the shoppers could find denim anywhere online. But the software of these machines would have to be further developed so that the margin of error could be reduced to the minimum .