MARCH/APRIL 2018 27 says. “These interactions are monitored so that A.I. [Artificial Intelligence] learns how the Boodles consumer wants to be spoken to,” she explains. Last year, ModiFace, an Augmented Reality (A.R.) company that creates custom try-on apps for the beauty industry, integrated simulation technology with chat bot technology on Facebook Messenger to help consumers choose lipstick. With knowledge of 20,000 beauty products, the bot enables users to discover items by chatting about colors and brand names. By uploading a selfie directly into the chat, they can then try on product virtually. Using advanced facial tracking and simulation technology, the consumer can see what they look like in that exact product. Products can then be purchased without leaving Facebook Messenger. According to Kean, Coty will soon be launching chat bot chat experiences for recommendations based on customer data, A.I. and Machine Learning (M.L.). DIGITAL FIRST At the recent Product Innovation Apparel Conference in Berlin, Germany, E.U. and U.S. retailers explored the question “If intent to purchase is formed on digital channels, then shouldn’t digital samples be our industry’s focus? Can we go to market without physical product?” The convergence of gaming, movie, and 3D fashion tech offers brands and retailers an entirely new business model—start first with digital. Italian cycling brand Alé and Italian fast fashion menswear and womenswear brand Imperial Fashion currently sell direct-to-consumer from 3D simulations. Digital simulation at retail is more than lowering sample costs; digital simulation at retail offers the opportunity to get inventory right—right product, right price, right location—by giving the consumers what they want, when they want it. “As digital consumers, we are used to instant gratification, and we want product that is personalized and relates to our specific needs and lifestyles,” explains Asaf Landau, vice president and general manager of EFI Optitex. “There is no dominant technology player driving the digital transformation of apparel,” he says. “Open platforms that allow us to design in 3D, lay out in 2D, and print digitally with color accuracy, [which] allows for mass personalization with less waste, more efficiency, and faster speed to the consumer,” he explains. “V.R. (Virtual Reality) and A.R. necessitate 3D,” Landau says. “3D is the gateway drug to the digital addiction of the future consumer,” he jokes. IN-STORE DATA: THE NEW GOLD DUST “We are working with retailers now to gain insight about customers in-store without an app, using visual recognition,” says Retail Director of Hitachi Consulting, Mark Williams. “Retailers can gain insights in real time on what a customer looked at, picked up, and didn’t buy to enrich the traditional metrics of what was bought and returned,” he explains. “This helps with inventory, visual merchandising, even shrinkage.” Reformation, a womenswear brand and retailer with stores in New York, California, and Texas, have installed interactive screens in some of their flagship stores and equipped staff members with mobile devices that allow customers (or staff members) to create personalized fitting rooms. Inventory on the shop floor is for display only. Sizes are located elsewhere. Once a customer is ready to try on the merchandise selected via the screens (or the staff member’s mobile device), a “magic wardrobe” in the fitting room is opened to reveal product in the customer’s size and color choices. As the customer rejects products and FE ATURE continued on page 28 continued from page 26 Virtual tools can assist shoppers in making decisions while helping brands avoid having too much inventory.