Japanese sizing technology specialist Makip has teamed up with new UK-based client Komodo Fashion, who has signed up to the company's specialist solutions after previously exploring a range of technology proposals.
The company started as a wholesaler, then moved directly to e-commerce (which now accounts for 40% of sales) and has seen the challenges that come with a growing e-business.
Komodo manager Tony Mountford said he had been looking for an online sizing specialist but had not been able to find the right partner until now.
“We started looking at online sizing technology about five years ago, but found it to be too much work for us at the time,” he explains. “The providers' features were great, but their other features weren't as important to us. We didn't feel it was the right time to invest.”
But now that they've implemented Makip's Unisize offer, the company says the technology is “already providing the Komodo team with better data insights, allowing them to use it more efficiently. Placing the app in a visible spot on Komodo's website has encouraged usage, and they're already seeing an increase in conversion rates. Higher conversion rates are a sign of greater customer confidence, which hopefully leads to lower return rates and, overall, increased profits.”
Montford also added: “We've already spoken to the Makip team since the Unisize app went live on the website to discuss how we can improve the app to make it a smoother experience. We've been impressed with how they listened to our requests and worked with us to develop an app that suited our needs. Software suppliers are often quite rigid in the services they can provide, but the Makip team listened to our requests and worked with us.”
The partners plan to release further features for the Unisize online size measuring app “soon.”
Mountford also said the company “want to attract new customers through our website, and it's important for them to get the right size the first time.” “The Unisize app helps build customer trust by providing an accurate online sizing experience so customers get the right size clothing the first time, every time. When customers are confident that their online sizing is accurate, they won't order the same item in multiple sizes, which reduces the number of returns.”
The company said it found that as online shopping boomed in the middle of the last decade, “online purchasing behavior has steadily changed, with many online fashion shoppers now ordering at least two sizes of the same item,” so it can be assumed they plan to return at least 50% of their purchases.
“We could offer free shipping or free returns, but that would just make the product more expensive and would do absolutely nothing to discourage unsustainable purchasing behavior. We prefer to discourage customers from overbuying and encourage them to buy more carefully.”
With the cost of returns in the UK predicted to cost the country's retailers £4.4 billion by 2026 – a huge sum for a retail industry that's currently worth £54 billion a year – sizing technology is now seen as a key way to address the returns issue, and Makip is hoping to grab a big chunk of that business.
The company began operations in the UK last year and is expanding its presence there by adding staff locally.
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