As artificial intelligence (AI) runs rampant in the retail industry, augmented reality (AR) solutions, high-quality imagery, relevant product recommendations and all attempts to get personalized are ramping up — making uber personalization the new normal.
One element to personalization on eCommerce that often gets overlooked is the impact and power behind “Get the Look” functionality. Such a feature can play a role in enhancing the shopping experience by allowing customers to visualize all the ways they can style a particular product. By presenting items or accessories that pair well with the main product, it enables customers to envision the overall look and potential outfit combinations. This enhances their understanding of the product’s versatility and encourages them to buy additional items.
The Get the Look, or “Complete the Look” feature as eTailers like Revolve call it, also facilitates additional product discovery. By suggesting products that align with the customer’s preferences and interests, it opens up new avenues for exploration within the online store. It’s a powerful strategy for cross-selling and upselling.
In a recent PYMNTS interview, Rohan Deuskar, the founder and CEO of Stylitics, delves into how the company is using its solution, along with its newly acquired technology called Wide Eyes, to enhance inspirational commerce by incorporating image recognition and AI capabilities.
Deuskar said the company has observed a shift in how people shop and retailers sell.
“Product pages are now the new homepage,” Deuskar said. “You see something you like on social media — all of that selling has happened to you, the awareness of the selling piece that happened to you there — you just go right into the product detail page. So all of the inspirational content and the cross-sell intention and the brand building that used to happen on the homepage … fewer people are going there. And so, the need is that you have to be able to tell those stories on the product detail page.”
As an example, a customer might initially land on a product detail page for a specific sneaker they’ve been eagerly anticipating. Nevertheless, there exists an opportunity to captivate their interest and encourage exploration of other related products, like the leggings worn by the model while showcasing the sneakers.
The incorporation of fitting and styling technologies can open up opportunities to display complementary items and offer recommendations.
While Get the Look is one way to draw in customers, augmented reality (AR) has also been making a claim in the personalization space. Giants like Google and Snap have been looking to claim market share, even if they’re doing it for free.
Just last month, Google revealed that it has no intention of monetizing its AR try-on to promote adoption of the tool, Google Product Manager Shyam Sunder said in a Glossy report.
However, the data collected from the try-on tool will be instrumental in elevating the platform’s performance. As more brands and retailers embrace this feature, it will foster faster improvements and refinements. Sunder collaborated with multiple brands throughout the year to gain insights into customers’ preferences and desires, leading to the development of precise sizing on human models.
Read more: Why Google Won’t Be Monetizing Its AI Try-On
Nevertheless, while AR try-on or virtual try-on (VTO) serves as a means to personalize the eCommerce experience, it merely provides customers with additional information to determine whether they should proceed with a purchase or not.
Stylitics’ objective is twofold. First, offer customers validation of the product’s value and versatility. By showcasing ways to style and use a product, Stylitics aids customers in comprehending its benefits and provides reassurance over their purchasing decision.
Secondly, Stylitics seeks to drive product discovery. They have observed instances where customers click on a particular product and end up purchasing complementary items. For example, a customer shopping for a crib may also buy the paired decor elements presented alongside it.
While Stylitics does not expect every customer to buy an entire look or ensemble, they have noticed this behavior, particularly in categories like kids’ fashion, where outfits for children are often purchased together due to their appeal and similar price points.
Deuskar explains that the Stylitics system is designed with adaptability in mind, recognizing that the curated outfits for different brands, such as Revolve and a fast fashion brand, will exhibit variations. Through an understanding of each brand’s self-perception and the importance of their products to their target audience, the system is equipped to provide a scalable and tailor-made solution, catering to the needs of each brand.
After assembling a pool of outfits and bundles, the Stylitics platform fine-tunes the shopping experience for every customer. This approach takes into account factors like stock availability and the customer’s browsing history.
Deuskar encourages retailers to adopt a broader perspective that goes beyond focusing on shortening the customer journey. While it is important for customers to make purchases during their visits, Stylitics advocates for a wider-lens approach, aiming to cultivate long-term customer loyalty and maximize revenue per customer per year. By offering customers immersive experiences and inspiring storytelling, retailers can enhance customer satisfaction without compromising on revenue generation.
“As a retailer, you would never say, ‘Our number one goal is for them to spend as little time here as possible,’ right? In a physical store, you wouldn’t do that,” Deuskar said.
Deuskar said the primary goal in-store is not to rush customers out but to create an engaging and enjoyable shopping experience that is compelling enough to lead to a transaction. Stylitics aims to provide customers with the same journey, but online.
Deuskar also noted that while there are instances where Stylitics seeks to shorten the customer journey, such as with the implementation of Wide Eye, which was built to make all visual content shoppable, and computer vision technology, the focus remains on providing a seamless and efficient shopping experience.
In the coming months, Stylitics plans to provide retailers with the tools to enable customers to conduct searches based on natural language queries, such as “fun summer colors” or “interesting sleeves.” By doing so, Stylitics aims to deliver a personalized and curated selection of products that align with customers’ preferences.
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