Walmart has announced it’s acquiring the Israeli-based, female-founded startup Zeekit. The reason? As more people have turned to online shopping for clothing (thanks, pandemic), a pain point of that experience has become annoyingly obvious: It sucks buying clothes online because you never know if they will fit right or look as good on you as they look in the pictures on your screen.
That’s where Zeekit’s virtual fitting room technology comes in. Zeekit’s platform uses computer vision and artificial intelligence technologies to map the selected clothing onto a customer’s body after they upload a picture of themself, allowing the online shopper to see how outfits will look on them. The technology can not only allow customers to get a better idea of which clothing is right for them, but it could also save Walmart the sales and logistical hassles of taking returns from clothing items customers have rejected after receiving due to not fitting or looking as good on them as they imagined.
Walmart says Zeekit’s technology will soon allow customers to virtually try on brands including Free People, Champion, Levi Strauss, Time & Tru, Terra & Sky, Wonder Nation, George, Eloquii Elements, Free Assembly, Scoop, and Sofia Jeans by Sofia Vergara.
Walmart has not yet announced a date that Zeekit’s virtual fitting-room technology will go live on Walmart.com, but when it does, online customers will have the choice between uploading a picture of themselves or choosing from a lineup of virtual models that best represent their height, body shape, and skin tone in order to see how outfits will look on them. Customers will also be able to share the virtual outfits with friends in order to get a second opinion.
You can check out how Zeekit’s technology works in the video below.
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