Enhancing Female Clothing Shopping Experience by the Use of the 3D Body Scanning Technology

Technology has changed the way consumers shop and drives the move to a multichannel landscape. The COVID-19 crisis has further strengthened technology adoption in different sectors. Shoppers place more importance on sustainability than in the past demonstrating the key role of sustainable business practices. People tend to look for good quality garments to last better for the environment. Although the rise of online shopping presents a huge opportunity for companies to capitalise on, yet, fit and sizes remain an on-going issue. Fashion consumers find it difficult to assess these elements through digital platforms. Indeed, online fashion is the biggest sector for returns with a return average rate of 25% of the majority of retailers, squeezing retailers’ profits and increasing investors’ risks. This paper proposes the use of 3D Body Scanning Technology to leverage this issue. This technology would allow the provision of improved garments characteristics while facilitating the in-store and online experience. It adopts an exploratory approach. A series of 20 customers’ body scans to ascertain the perception of the 3D Body Scanning process. Respondents have been asked to describe this experience straight after the session by completing an open-ended questionnaire. This has been supplemented by follow-up interviews (relating to whether the results of the body scanning process had had any impact on respondents’ consumption behaviour); Results indicate a positive attitude towards the use of the technology which suggests favourable future application of the technology in a clothing retailing context and contributes knowledge to research literature and theory.