The Role of Accurate Sizing
Bracketing occurs when consumers order multiple sizes of the same item, try them on at home, and return the ones that don't fit. While this approach minimizes risk for consumers, it introduces substantial logistical, financial, and environmental challenges that the industry must address.
Logistical and Financial Implications for Retailers: The increasing trend of bracketing has led to a surge in returns, which, in turn, raises operational costs for retailers. The returns process involves multiple stages, including:
Inspection to ensure items are undamaged.
Cleaning to prepare returned items for resale.
Repackaging to make them presentable.
Restocking to reintegrate items into inventory.
These activities require significant labor, time, and resources, resulting in rising operational expenses. In fact, the costs associated with returns may eat up as much as 50-60% of a retailer's profits. In some cases, these expenses are absorbed as losses or passed onto consumers through higher prices. This makes the high volume of returns unsustainable for many retailers and customers.
Growing Environmental Impact:
The environmental repercussions of bracketing are even more dire. The fashion industry already has a significant environmental footprint, and the returns process exacerbates this issue. Many returned garments, especially from fast fashion retailers, are discarded due to the high cost of processing and reselling them, with many ultimately ending up in landfills. This increases waste generation, contributing to the ongoing sustainability crisis in fashion.
In 2020 alone, an estimated 2.6 million tons of returned clothing were sent to U.S. landfills. Furthermore, online returns in that year generated approximately 16 million tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to the annual emissions of about 3.5 million cars. These figures underline the urgent need for a solution to reduce the volume of returns in the fashion industry.
A Sustainable Solution: The Kora™ Scanner
Reduced returns dramatically decrease landfill waste, emissions, water usage, and the other natural resources used to replace destroyed returns. Reducing returns requires a method to provide body measurement and size-matching to improve fitment accuracy.
To address the growing challenge of sizing inaccuracies and the resulting returns, Bodidata and DesignThink have partnered to develop the Kora™ Scanner. Kora™ delivers simple, safe and accurate size-matching solutions which dramatically reduces returns, increases wearer satisfaction, and improves lost profits attributed by discarded returns.
This groundbreaking device is the first of its kind—an easy-to-use handheld scanner capable of capturing an individual's 3D body measurements while they are dressed in streetwear. By combining LiDAR and Radar 3D body scanning technology with patented AR UI algorithms, Kora™ provides accurate sizing recommendations that match a person's unique body measurements with the appropriate apparel sizes from manufacturers.
How Kora Works:
Measure, Match Manage™
Measure: The Kora™ scanner uses a combination of optical and radar sensors to create an anonymous measurement cloud that accurately determines key body dimensions.
Match: Bodimatch® matches each individual's unique body shape and measurements to the optimal size using Bodidata's style taxonomy of detailed clothing specifications, fabric elasticity, movement, function, visual appearance standards and wearer preference. This data is then matched with the sizing information from various apparel brands to suggest the best-fitting clothing, dramatically reducing the likelihood of returns.
Manage: Bodiguide™ interactively helps wearers review the quality of fit for the new ready-to-wear item so they understand that they have received the best size for their unique body shape.
From Proof of Concept to Market Launch
When Bodidata approached DesignThink, the Kora™ project was still in the proof-of-function engineering phase, featuring a working prototype that connected to an iPad. The design required refinement, both in terms of usability and engineering, to ensure it was ready for mass production. DesignThink's role was crucial in enhancing the usability and ergonomics of the product, making it intuitive, comfortable, and effective for extended use. DesignThink focused on the following:
Performance Engineering: One of the main challenges was ensuring the proper function of the LiDAR system, a crucial component for 3D scanning. DesignThink addressed the LiDAR's performance requirements and need for extreme precision during manufacturing in key areas of the product to ensure accurate functionality. This level of precision was achieved by maintaining tight tolerances and controlling critical dimensions across all production units, achieving high precision and repeatability to ensure the device's performance and reliability.
Prototype to Production Strategy: To facilitate a smooth transition from prototype to production, DesignThink focused on developing a cost-effective strategy that avoided traditional high-volume tooling expenses to achieve the initial low-volume projections. We utilized 3D printed parts for direct use in production. This allowed for a more flexible, scalable production approach without compromising quality.
Ergonomic Control: The Kora™ scanner needed to be ergonomic, especially since users would frequently need to dock it to an iPad during setup. DesignThink designed a subtle overhang lip around the LiDAR enclosure to ensure a secure grip, making the scanner more comfortable to handle for prolonged use. Using 3D printed parts for production enabled the team to create the ergonomic grip feature that would have otherwise become an undercut using traditional injection molding tooling. This simple feature provided users with a secure grip and control when docking and undocking Kora™ with the iPad.
The Broader Impact of Kora™ on Sustainability
By offering more accurate sizing recommendations, Kora™ reduces the likelihood of returns, addressing both logistical and environmental concerns. With fewer returns, the need for excess garment production is minimized, and waste and carbon emissions are reduced. As the fashion industry increasingly embraces sustainability, Kora™ offers a promising path to achieve eco-friendly practices while enhancing the customer shopping experience.
In sum, Kora™ is a transformative solution for the apparel industry, aligning with the growing demand for sustainability. By ensuring better fits, fewer garments are wasted, and less fabric is discarded, supporting both economic and environmental goals. As the technology scales, it could revolutionize how people shop and get fitted for clothing, all while contributing to a more sustainable future in the fashion industry.
Ultimately, achieving a sustainable fashion ecosystem requires collaboration across stakeholders—retailers, consumers, and regulatory bodies—ensuring that e-commerce growth doesn't come at the cost of environmental degradation or financial instability. Kora™ represents a significant step in that direction.
A Proud Partnership:
DesignThink's contributions to the Kora scanner's development were key in refining its design and functionality. Our focus on ergonomics, cost-effective production methods, and precision in critical components ensured that Kora would deliver a seamless and user-friendly experience while maintaining the performance necessary to revolutionize body measurement technology.
At DesignThink, we're proud to have played a key role in bringing this technology to life. The partnership with Bodidata marks an important step toward solving a challenging problem in the fashion industry, and we're excited to see the long-term impact Kora will have in transforming how people will improve their e-commerce experience, while also promoting sustainability.
