The rising usage of smartphones is expected to take the virtual fitting room market to $19,250.4 million by 2030, from $3,128.6 million in 2019, at an 18.5% CAGR between 2020 and 2030.
A virtual fitting room is a digital representation of a fitting room, wherein images taken from cameras and processed by AI, AR, and VR let a person try on clothes and other pieces of attire in the virtual space. The cameras analyze the person's physique and movements and digitally superimpose the attire on their own 2D or 3D image, to show people how it would look on them in reality.
While e-commerce gives people the convenience of ordering stuff from home and getting it delivered to them at cost-effective rates, products, especially clothes, can only be tried on once they reach the customer. Not anymore! With the virtual fitting room concept, clothes can be tried on even before customers get their hands on them, via technologies such as AI, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). Anyone who has used Snapchat filters or even Photoshop would easily grasp the concept.
The concept can also be used in physical stores, inside a specially designed kiosk. In fact, physical stores account for the higher usage of this technology than e-commerce platforms at present. With the advancements in the AI, AR, and VR technologies, the expectations of customers regarding trying on apparel and clothes virtually are increasing, which is impelling physical stores to deploy virtual fitting rooms. But, the COVID-19 pandemic has come as a dam in front of a raging river, significantly depressing the activity of physical stores, with the lockdown and movement restrictions in place.
One's loss is another's gain, it seems, as e-commerce companies are flourishing presently, with a large number of customers shifting to online shopping during the pandemic. Even after the pandemic is over, people might be apprehensive about going to physical stores, out of fear of contracting the infection. This is why e-commerce companies are expected to rapidly adopt the virtual fitting room concept for their websites, to cash in on the boom the e-commerce sector would witness.
North America has been the largest virtual fitting room market till now, on account of the earlier adoption of AR, VR, and AI and higher usage of internet-based services. The higher internet speed and smoother connectivity in the region allow e-commerce customers to access data-intensive applications, such as virtual fitting rooms, on their PCs, tablets, laptops, and smartphones. However, with the increasing penetration of these technologies and in an effort to regain the customers lost to online shopping portals, physical stores in the region have also started offering virtual fitting rooms.
Thus, the popularity of virtual fitting rooms is expected to increase as a combined effect of technological advancements and increasing penetration of the internet and smartphones, as well as the aftereffects of the COVID situation.
The "Virtual Fitting Room Market Research Report: By Component (Software, Hardware, Service), Application (Apparel, Beauty and Cosmetics, Eyewear, Footwear, Jewelry and Watches), End User (Physical Stores, E-Commerce Platforms) – Global Industry Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
