Retail giant Walmart Inc. (#2 in the 2021 Digital Commerce 360 Top 1000) has launched a new online tool to help shoppers try on clothes virtually before they buy.
Walmart has added a new feature called Be Your Own Model to its website and mobile app. The feature allows customers using their iOS mobile app to upload photos of themselves and use the images to better visualize how garments would look on them. Once a customer has saved an image, they can use it to see themselves as a model when using the virtual fitting tool. An Android version of Be Your Own Model is coming in a few weeks, says Walmart.
Walmart’s new Be Your Own Model feature allows customers to upload photos of themselves and use the photos to better visualize how garments would look on them.
The Be Your Own Model tool expands on Walmart’s virtual try-on feature, launched in March. Initially, shoppers could try on clothes virtually by selecting a preloaded virtual model that resembled them. Walmart calls this feature Choose Your Model. Technology from Zeekit, a virtual fitting room provider that Walmart acquired last year, powers Walmart’s virtual fitting room feature.
According to Brock McKeel, senior vice president of site experience for Walmart’s e-commerce operations, improving the virtual try-on experience is about giving shoppers more confidence when shopping online.
“We’re really excited about that,” says McKeel.
He says seeing a representation of yourself in outfits will give shoppers more confidence in their decisions. It could also reduce returns, which it says are costly for retailers and inconvenient for customers.
“We want to make sure what they buy fits properly [and] it’s what they thought they were going to buy,” says McKeel.
The goal, he says, is to reduce friction in the buying process and keep customers coming back. The Be Your Own Model feature is now available for more than 270,000 items. That includes some items on the Walmart Marketplace, Walmart says.
Additional Website Changes
For grocery shoppers, McKeel said the retailer has enhanced the website and app to make shopping easier for customers using government benefits. He says website improvements are making it easier for shoppers to know if grocery items are eligible for purchase with Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. EBT cards allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to pay for groceries with SNAP benefits.
Walmart has been part of the US Department of Agriculture’s SNAP online shopping program since 2019.
According to McKeel, Walmart has also updated its online gift registration process. Upgrades include new featured items available online and coming soon in retailer mobile app registration. Improvements include a new scan to add coming soon. This feature allows customers to scan in-store items with the Walmart app and add them directly to a registry.
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