The urgency to solve for virtual fit, once relegated online, has extended to stores, where the pandemic has made trying on clothing more complicated. Reopened stores are mostly contactless, meaning that fitting rooms are closed, restricted or just unappealing; 65 per cent of women feel unsafe trying on apparel in dressing rooms, according to First Insight. Thus, shoppers are left to guess size and fit -- and more inclined to adopt the buy-then-try behaviours that mimic e-commerce. The phenomenon has compromised a key value proposition for stores; fit is the top reason for online returns, which for apparel can be 40 per cent. "People are using their bedrooms as fitting rooms," says Haniff Brown, founder and CEO of fit-tech startup Fit:Match.

Sustainability is at the forefront of all aspects of the supply chain in retail. From product development and production to shipping and returns, every aspect of the retail industry is working to become more sustainable. Increasing these efforts is challenging, as many retailers frequently introduce new products to meet the demands of the constantly evolving consumer. On average, up to 20% of clothing goes unsold and is often incinerated. Additionally, returned goods create more than 5 billion pounds of waste in U.S. landfills each year.

A comfort footwear and orthotics brand wants your shoes to fit perfectly, regardless of where you buy them. Chain Store Age recently spoke with Larry Schwartz, CEO of Aetrex Worldwide, about the company's new partnership with fashion personalization and customer experience platform True Fit. In addition to selling its own custom footwear and orthotics products, Aetrex also runs the foot health site foot.com The technology uses computer vision, sensor, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning technologies to determine individual consumer data such as size, length, width, height, pressure, and arch type in under one minute. How is Aetrex working with True Fit? "We have joined in a strategic partnership to combine True Fit's Fashion Genome connected data set and personal size, fit and style recommendations with the Aetrex technology suite, including our Albert 3D foot scanner, Fit HQ AI solution, and Albert mobile applications. The result is an interactive, omnichannel experience that connects in-store foot scanning data to direct the shopper and recommends the best-fitting footwear for both their foot type and fit and style preferences. "The foot scans will enrich each shopper's True Fit profile, and will enhance accuracy and relevance of the footwear recommendations anywhere True Fit is available.