Footwear and athletic apparel retailer Asics has found a way to personalize the shopping experience for consumers by finding them products that fit perfectly in size and style.
Asics worked with True Fit, a data-driven personalization platform for footwear and apparel that uses data and machine learning to enable personalized experiences in the form of personal fit ratings, size recommendations and style curation.
Prior to working with True Fit, the challenge for Asics was about fit and a lack of knowledge about their products.
“We immediately saw an increase of engagement about the number of customers creating True Fit profiles, the amount of overall use and new registration” said Jason Le Boeuf, Director of Ecommerce for Asics. “For us what that does is translate to sales and a great increase in conversion.”
Romney Evans, Co-Founder of True Fit, said his company has organized the largest collection of apparel and footwear data through partnerships with brands, retailers and customers.
“We analyze massive data about clothes and consumers to understand which combinations of product attributes and consumer attributes combined to result in successful purchases,” said Evans.
Consumers create a True Fit profile in about 30 seconds on a retailer’s site. They click on a “Find Your True Fit” button or link, and answer a few questions like height, weight and age, and identify a favorite brand and size of an item they currently wear that fits well.
Since the launch of True Fit, Asics has seen a 150% increase in conversion from product page to cart. Le Boeuf said that translates to a 7.4% conversion rate for True Fit customers versus 2.4% for non-True Fit customers.
Le Boeuf said True Fit has helped the mobile experience for Asics, increasing the conversion rate and giving customers confidence in making mobile purchases.
Asics has been able to collect data on return rates, which enabled it to update its return policy. The company has also been able to offer free returns.
“It definitely helped us make more informed decisions based on feedback we received from the customer,” said Le Boeuf.
Other results for Asics include serving 1.6 million recommendations since the launch of True Fit on the Asics website. It has also allowed customers to try new products when creating a profile; Asics found they keep about 20% more of the products they try. There has also been a reduction in size sampling anywhere from 30% to 50%, which is a common return behavior.
Evans said the whole platform is designed on the notion that apparel and shoes are inherently personal items, which is why they ask consumers about their favorite clothes and shoes they currently wear.
“People decide what to wear and what to buy based on subtle details that distinguish one item from another,” said Evans. “We believe that understanding the details that people care about and being able to map those patterns to a deep understanding about the products retailers sell is the formula for success.”