Digital dressing rooms impending as start-up receives additional funding

Tuesday, December 17, 2013 - 11:10 by Sarah Collinson

More money is being pumped into emerging UK firm Metail.com as it attempts to make virtual fitting rooms a commonplace element of safe shopping online, according to the Metro.

The company has just announced that £2.6 million in funding has been secured, which could mean that its technology is developed with greater swiftness and a higher degree of functionality.

Digital dressing rooms are in the works at a number of firms and the idea is that consumers who are shopping online will be able to see what they would look like in items of clothing, without physically being able to pop them on before committing to a purchase.

Metail.com harnesses 3D modelling to fashion a template of a shopper, which can then be dressed in whatever fashion product they are thinking about buying. A 96 per cent accuracy claim is made by the firm, with millions of people already having created their own personal 3D model on the site.

Various major retailers, including Tesco and Shop Direct, have already signed up to use Metail.com's service, so it could be integrated across a range of e-commerce outlets in the near future.

This will not only mean that customers can buy clothing with confidence, but that retailers will not have to worry about dealing with the current levels of returns which are being seen in online fashion shopping.

Many people deliberately buy two or three versions of the same item in different sizes, with the intention of returning those which do not fit and keeping the appropriate product.

This is hardly the most efficient way to go about shopping, as well as causing environmental impacts on top of the inconvenience. So with virtual fitting rooms on the horizon, retailers and consumers can rejoice.