Shop.org 2009 Strategy and Innovation Forum

Feb. 2-4, Louise Guay, Jean-François St-Arnaud and Chantal Desrosiers demoed MVM's new offering at Shop.org 2009 Strategy and Innovation Forum. Our 3D Visual Search and My Virtual Model Community seem right on target as demonstrated by Ellen Davis' post on Shop.org Blog, "On the EXPO Floor":

"I spent quite a bit of time at last night’s networking dinner speaking with Jean-François St-Arnaud, one of the founders of My Virtual Model, which attempts to help retailers get customers over the hurdle of buying apparel online. The concept allows customers to build an avatar with their measurements and customize features like hair and eye color so that people can virtually "try on" clothing. In addition to helping customers put together outfits and get an understanding of what clothing would look like on them, the platform features a community where people can rate and comment on others’ looks, in addition to sharing their own styles.

Don’t take my word on how cool this is: check out the retail "dressing rooms" using My Virtual Model on websites like H&M, Sears and MSN Shopping. In addition to making people feel more comfortable with the idea of buying apparel online, I imagine that a platform like this could lower return rates as well."

Ok, if you don't want to take Ellen's word, you may take these:

The Technology Starlet: "My Virtual Model is the best virtual dressing room I found so far. You can find this interactive web app anywhere."
Virtual Dressing Rooms... Have They Gotten Any Better?

Momentary Lull: "One of the pleasures - and main selling point - when shopping for clothes is the ability to try things on, stroke the fabrics and have a reality check in the changing room. You can’t do that online but stores like sears.com try to fill this gap by letting you create a virtual model that looks like you. You can dress it and undress it at will and get a sense of how these crazy colors suit you."
Shoppertainment: 5 ways to have fun while shopping online

3DWalkthroughs: "My Virtual Model is one of the few companies that have really nailed it with regards to creating an application with real business value."
My Virtual Model - 3D Virtual Commerce Hit’s it’s Stride

Digital Vinyl: "It’s definately the best shopping avatar I’ve seen."
Style Avatars - H&M rocks online retail

Second Life Pros: "My Virtual Model is a concrete, and in my opinion very good, example of how you can try to make business on virtual things."
My virtual model

YPulse: "If this is successful, other brands will soon be forced to rethink the way they sell clothing online."
Sears Introduces Online 3-D Shopping

Thank you all, folks. Spread the word.

Fun is Transforming Online Fashion Shopping

There’s no doubt that online fashion shopping coupled with social networking is gaining momentum on the Internet. Online shopping will even grow faster in coming years as Digital Kids replace Boomers on the marketplace.

As John Palfrey and Urs Gasser say in "Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives" (Basic Books, 2008):

"The first generation of "Digital Natives" - children who were born into and raised in the digital world - are coming of age, and soon our world will be reshaped in their image. Our economy, our politics, our culture and even the shape of our family life will be forever transformed."

Already popular with teens and young fashionistas, social shopping strongly appeals to a wider market of professional women, working moms, special sizes and seasonal shoppers going for casual and workplace clothes, swimsuits, outerwear, party dresses, jeans, sportswear, sleepwear, lingerie, etc.

Beth Cherry posted this plea on her blog (October 12, 2008):

"Dear All Clothing Stores in the World,

Could you please, please, pretty please with a cherry on top, engage with My Virtual Model? Right now, you can only really play with Landsend, H&M, Sears, and a few others. I stayed up way past my bedtime tonight dressing my blue-eyed pony-tail wearing model, but I PROMISE this is the way I want to shop online: (1) it’s fun, (2) I "try on" things I would never try on in the store because it is fast, (3) I can store the data (outfits) for future reference (or for when I go into the store to try on an outfit for real) and share with my girlfriends. The more stories that participate, the more I can build outfits without running from store to store. It reminds me of that Fashion Plates toy from when I was a kid, except my model actually has hips as wide as my own. She needs to get on an exercise bike.

Regards,

Beth"

What we have learned from MVM users is that there’s never enough clothing, brands, styles, colors or accessories to curb any appetite. That’s because sameness is boring; the end of fashion is boring; having your cake and not eating it is boring.

The truth is: Fashion is Fun!

Google Insight for Search: "Shop by Outfit"

Google Insights for Search is a little-known online tool available from Google Labs. Its purpose is to let marketers and researchers peek into Google's query database for trends such as rising keywords by category, product seasonality or geographic distribution. The database provides only a subset of all online queries submitted to Google but this sample is sufficient to capture what's going on while allowing for decent performance.

The following chart shows how the use of the word "Outfit" grew in shopper queries from Jan. 2004 to Feb. 2009, relative to all searches in the Shopping >> Apparel category.

"Outfit" in category Shopping >> Apparel

As one would expect, Apparel Shopping (black) peaks in December each year. Searches for "Outfit" (blue) are remarkedly popular in October, and rising year after year. Although the trend is clear, the October peak may betray the presence of "Halloween outfit" in the sample. A closer look at the last 12 months (2008-2009) should help us here.

"Halloween outfit" in category Shopping > Apparel

"Halloween outfit" (red) has indeed a flattening effects on the whole Apparel category. Let's get more specific by searching for "Shop by outfit" (blue) in 2008-2009 instead.

"Shop by outfit" in category Shopping >> Apparel

This time, the chart shows that "Shop by outfit" (blue) is really rising amongst apparel shoppers. Google Insight for Search cannot tell exactly why people are looking for what they are looking for but as a market research tool, it can undoubtedly help anyone to improve her market insight by trial and error.

My Virtual Model Community Launches in Beta

Since last December, the MVM.com website is hosting a Social Shopping Community where people can create outfit collages around their 3D virtual model and share their looks with other members.

By the end of January, members had published over 15,000 looks. They commented each other’s looks and found their way to Shopping.com, our shopping partner.

As the Community keeps evolving, user groups will form by style, affinity, region, city, age, activities, and thanks to MVM’s unique personalization features, even by shape and body type.

Shopping by looks created by people brings together the best of all micro-experiences, unbelievable user endorsement and ratings, reliable cross-selling, color and style mix-and-match, fashion help you can trust, and most of all: a sense of belonging that is found only in your neighboring shopping mall.

Listen to what users are saying:

Style Feedback

• This look is really great!! I love the fact that you chose that type of stockings, instead of pantyhose ; )
• Cute! Completely stylish, this look incorporates a vintage grudge feel with a modern, rocker-esque edge.
• Love the color block look. Very stylish. Bag goes well with dress.
• Shoes don't go w/ outfit....
• hmm.. how about adding cardigan or trenchcoat?

Color Match

• I'm not really sure how the red and orange and grey go together, but you probably know more than I. It's cute.
• I love love love! purple is one of my favorite colours and since i like jeans a lot... this is an excelent outfit!
• this shining white is best combined with yellow gold, gives the white royally brightness ;))))
• The blue stripes make this outfit look fresh. And it compliment your eyes. Cute.
• ooohhh... that outfit is so pretty, like how you put the pinks together

Peer Persuasion

• cant believe i did this lol! so... should i go for this look in real life everyone?? lmao.
• ohh i simply adore your style ! good job ! :)
• You wear this dress uniquely!
• i wish i could be your size
• Very sporty and fun. I love the colors you mix and match together. What a wonderful fun and entertaining sight this is.

What these excerpts fail to show is that people are talking about a visual representation of themselves or others wearing a virtual outfit. All store owners know first-hand that customers can really turn a whole store upside down by the end of every single business day. The brick-and-mortar shopping experience does not only incur expensive costs of maintenance but the salability of inventory items is quickly reduced as well. Getting to know what you want to buy before going to the store can really help store owners as well as shoppers.

MVM 3D Visual Search Goes "Beyond Google"

How do people search for clothing? It depends of who you are, how you want to be, what you have in mind. The same question makes people hate shopping: How do I know what I want?

"My Virtual Model provides a way to search, shop, and buy with your model, which goes beyond Google. Searching evolves from text to 3D. The customer dresses up her model with the styles she is looking for, just as if she were with her own personal shopper. Any search engine gives the results by matching real sellable items with the customer's query. This enables a discovery of products by personal style."

The New Language of Marketing 2.0 by Sandy Carter, IBM Press, 2008.

Thanks Sandy. "Beyond Google", you say? I really like to quote you on this.

Personalization is not just another fad. It’s the way you choose to surf the Web. We all do it. Today’s young adults had a very different schooling than baby-boomers. During the 80’s and 90’s, new interactive methods focusing on process rather than content were introduced in primary schools. People learned how to find answers fitting their questions. These skills prepared them for the Internet Age where new content is available each day that wasn’t there the day before.

One of these interactive learning methods is called Storyline:

"Together, learner and teacher create a scenario through visualisation; the making of collages, three-dimensional models and pictures employing a variety of art and craft techniques. (...) The teacher’s role is mainly that of a facilitator."

The Storyline Method (from Wikipedia)

Lots of us know that learning has to be fun to be effective, and merchandisers know that about shopping since the Ice Age.

My Virtual Model 3D Visual Search works by helping people to find things the way they’re used to find them, visually. And they love it!

By the end of Q4-2008, MVM installed two Visual Search public pilots on Sears.com and MSN Shopping to demonstrate ROI in both retail and portal contexts. As metrics belong to our partners, we cannot say more about this for now but I will update you about our own pilot in my next post.

Consumer Reports "Buying Clothes Online" Survey

Last December, Consumer Reports released a survey rating 39 apparel shopping Web sites:

“There were no real dogs among the 39 clothiers we've rated. Standouts, including L.L.Bean, Zappos, and Lands' End, tended to provide superior clothing quality, the most accurate descriptions and sizing information, an informative Web site, and an easy way to order and return items. (…) Other pluses include virtual models that let you "try on" merchandise, sizing guides, 360-degree and zoom views, and buyer reviews.”

Buying Clothes Online - Consumer Reports Magazine (Dec. 2008)

Experts weigh in on top shopping Web sites - Watch the Video on ABC7 (Los Angeles)

Who doesn’t want to be reviewed in Consumer Reports?

Since 1998, MVM and Lands’ End have teamed together to bring virtual modeling to men and women. Searching for “My Virtual Model” in Google Books returns more than a 100 citations in online marketing reviews, studies and textbooks. With such a blazing trail, there’s no doubt that competitors are coming at us so we’ve decided to outrun them and reposition our technology with MVM 3D Visual Search.