The Seeing is Believing
How Walmart’s New “Choose My Model” Technology with Change Apparel Shopping
Introduction
Companies are constantly innovating new ways to boost customer experience and to satisfy customer expectations. To attain this, companies have recognized the need to adopt technology in every aspect of their businesses, including marketing, sales, and employee management (Dornberger 7). Retail stores such as Walmart have recognized the importance of technology and leveraged the technology to improve the customer experience. The latest adoption of the virtual fitting room was made possible through Walmart’s acquisition of Zeekit in 2021. The technology “Choose My Model” is available to customers on Walmart’s app and those who shop or visit online, on walmart.com. The initial phase of the project introduces the features that enable customers to select an avatar of a similar type in size, shape, and skin color to the customer’s own; however, despite the lack of physical customer experience that allows the customer to have a natural feel of fitting clothing on a physical body. The technology will benefit Walmart with several advantages: boosting sales, improving company reputation, and reducing returns.
Why the technology works for Walmart?
The adoption of the innovation by Walmart is likely to evoke the customer’s excitement for the firm, which will likely attract more purchases from the existing customers wanting to try the new technology. The unique shopping experience brought about by the “Choose My Model” technology gives the customer a wide range of options that the customer can fit the clothing through online matching the outfit to see how the outfit looks on them (Anderson). This brings an all-inclusive, easy to understand, and personalized digital experience to replicate the actual physical experience better. The new sales from the existing customers will significantly boost the company’s revenue in the long term. Additionally, the launch of the virtual try-on experience will promote customer confidentiality more, especially among women who form the more significant proportion of those purchasing online. Improved confidentiality on women will ensure that more women’s apparel is sold from the store, and as more clothing is sold, the company will make more sales and increase its profits.
The technology is also likely to attract new customers to try the new technology, aided by spreading the good news from the existing customers (Shankar et al. 4). This move is possible because customers who would have tried and liked the new technology will try to influence their friends into trying Walmart technology. The new customers will form a unique niche of the Walmart target market, contributing significantly to increasing the company’s sales. New customers will also act as ambassadors, spreading, the new features of online shopping. Family members and close relatives will also form part of the latest online purchasing trend. Through word of mouth from one member to the other, family members will be recruited into the online purchase. This will be occasioned by the excellent performance of the “Choose My Model” technology, which will also contribute significantly to boosting sales and company reputation.
Adopting technology has been associated with a positive company image that ultimately affects company reputation. Companies that embrace technology to enhance the customer experience and ease customer access to company products and services are more preferred by customers (Lee & DonHee 2). Through Walmart adopting the new “Choose My Model” technology, customers are more likely to view its brand differently, setting it apart from other companies. Comparably few non-retail companies have adopted such technology, which gives Walmart a good reputation against its competitors. This will boost the brand image, eventually enhancing the company’s reputation and ultimately, its sales.
Technology is becoming the new norm in every company and company of the future. Launching this kind of technology in Walmart’s sales strategy makes the company look more original and contemporary. As customers view a company to be less old-fashioned, the more they are likely to make new or more, purchases from the company (Dornberger 7). This customer behavior will drive up its sales and enable it to reach more customers. Through this changed perception of customers, company sales will likely go up simultaneously, increasing the company’s brand image as a firm that offers satisfactory services to its customers.
The new shopping model will also have a significant impact on the effort of the company to reduce returns. Through the “Choose My Model”, customers can easily determine the model that best fits their body height, shape, and skin color tone to understand how a garment will look when they fit it on (Anderson). This model is unlike the past, where customers could simply go shopping, with no idea how what they were buying online could look on them. The “Choose My Model” technology gives a near-to-the-real physical experience. When the customer receives the actual clothing, they are likely to accept the merchandise without returning it, which will reduce the number of returns and the costs associated with handling them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, introducing the new technology of virtual fitting rooms into the Walmart shopping experience will have several advantages, most notably boosting sales among the existing customers. These gains will come through the enhanced experience that customers will have and the ease of doing shopping. The incorporation of the new technology will also attract new customers who will be eager to test the technology as it has not been employed as of yet by other major retailers in the country. Additionally, Walmart believes that the rollout of the technology will lead to higher purchasing potential and fewer merchandise. An of this will boost the customer’s motivation to buy, ultimately improving the company’s reputation to both existing and new customers and to the general public as well. Overall, despite the lack of the physical feel of trying the fashion clothing on a customer’s body, the “Choose My Model” technology will lower sales returns, boost sales and improve the company’s reputation.
Works Cited
Anderson, George. “Will Try-on Tech Be the Right Fit for Walmart’s Fashion Business? — RetailWire.” RetailWire — Retail News and Analysis, 4 Mar. 2022, www. retailwire.com/discussion/will-try-on-tech-be-the-right-fit-for-Walmarts-fashion-business/. Accessed 14 March 2022.
Dornberger, Rolf. New Trends in Business Information Systems and Technology: Digital Innovation and Digital Business Transformation. Springer Nature, 2020.
Lee, Sang M., and DonHee Lee. “Contact”: A New Customer Service Strategy in The Digital Age.” Service Business vol. 14, no. 1 (2020): pp. 1–22. doi:10.1007/s11628–019–00408–2
Shankar, Venkatesh, et al. “How technology is changing retail.” Journal of Retailing vol. 97, no. 1 (2021): pp. 13–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2020.10.006
About the Writer
Cecelia Kinchen is a senior here at Southeastern Louisiana University majoring in General Management. She enjoys reading books, writing in her journal, and etc.
