Case Study
In a world where online shipping is the norm, finding the perfect fit for clothing can be a daunting challenge. Our mission was clear: to provide Levi's customers with a seamless digital solution which empowers them to make precise sizing decisions while shopping on Levi's e-commerce site. By reducing the uncertainty around sizing, we aimed to significantly decrease the company's return rate with a goal of 20% reduction. This project was hosted by F6S Hackathon in partnership with Levi’s - and our team was proud to secure 2nd place from a total of 15 competition teams.
Problem Statement
Online apparel consumers continue to struggle with selecting the correct size clothing with any brand. Measurements, fit preference, and material all determine what makes something the perfect fit for a consumer. Levi’s is pushing to create a more seamless user experience by allowing the user to make more accurate size selections based on their products, while also lowering the percentage of online returns and their related costs.
Objectives & Goals
Understand pain-points users experience while shopping for apparel online, and how it can be solved through research and user-friendly design practices.
Design and develop a digital product that Levi’s is able to easily implement into their e-commerce shopping experience for their customers, that also reduces impact of order returns.
My Process
Research
To understand the pain-points that users have when shopping online for apparel, it was key to conduct user interviews, and also watch the habits that participants have when making a selection of size or style from an e-commerce website. Through the findings, there were several key insights that were brought to light from all of our user groups.
User Interviews:
100%
Users looked at the reviews of a product they were interested in to see if the item ran true to size.
75%
Users would order the same product in multiple sizes to try on at home, and return the items that did not fit to their liking.
80%
Looked at social media apps for reviews on product they were interested in.
50%
Participants said that they would prefer to find a location to try on the item in person over purchasing it online.
25%
Participants believed the information given to them on the website about the product, and that the sizing guide was true.
Competitor Analysis:
Halti is a European clothing brand that sells direct-to-consumer through their e-commerce site. They allow users to enter in their own body measurements, and once completed are recommended the best fitting product per PDP. Below are some positives and negatives of their feature.
Positives:
Allows users to be able to get the closest recommendation of size compared to items of clothing they have at home.
Based on the measurements entered, the website automatically determines and selects the best size from the entered user data.
Negatives:
The user must know how to accurately measure their clothing or body at home to be able to receive the correct product recommendation.
If a size is not found based on the entered data, there is no alternative recommendations for users to look at.
If a user wishes to look at multiple products, they must re-enter their data into the PDP of every product to receive their recommended size.
Wair is an AI company that supplies an e-commerce plug-in feature for brands to add to their PDP’s. Users then take a quick quiz entering in their height, weight, age, and other body metrics, to be recommended the best size from the available products listed with the platform.
Positives:
Quiz is able to be taken on all devices, and not dependent on using any photo data.
Results are displayed showing an image of the specific product you are interested in, and recommended size based on the data entered, as well as size history based on other customers with similar data.
Negatives:
The service does not automatically select the recommended size for the user, which can result in an incorrect purchase of size resulting in higher return rates.
If any data entered by the user was not a match with an item the company has to offer, the software defaults to the largest available size even though the measurements are not a match.
Product Users
The target user base for this product is a wider one, as Levi’s is a legacy brand that has customers ranging from toddlers all the way through elderly adults. However, for this product - we are focusing on Levi’s core user base on their e-commerce site which is all genders, ages 18-40 years of age, who complete most of their shopping online. Their pain-points are having to figure out if a product they are interested in is the correct size to their preference, and often times results in having to make multiple returns which takes both time out of their day, and money out of their pockets.
Strategic Partnership:
Developing a strategic partnership for this project was pivotal, as the team did not have the development resources to build our own AI to complete the task we were looking to achieve for Levi’s. Tailored.AI was a solution we came across and loved, as they have a proprietary learning algorithm that allows users to scan an article of clothing that they have at home, displaying the accurate measurements of the garment within a 98% accuracy score, as well as using that data to recommend products to the user based on style, size, color, and more.
Positives:
Tailored’s services act as a direct plugin feature to companies who have e-commerce sites, and uses mobile phone cameras to scan for recommendations based on an entire product set, and not one individual item that is selected.
The algorithm is able to scan different types of clothing from pants, shirts, outerwear, and more.
Users are able to store the data collected by Tailored in their Levi’s account portal to revisit at a later time for purchase history, and saved items.
User Flows
Scenario 1:
User enters Levi’s e-commerce website from their mobile device, and starts the process to scan their garment at home.
Scenario 2:
User selects a product that they like from the website and arrives on the PDP. They use “Find My Fit” to get their recommendation size to purchase.
Functionalities
Main Screens
As we envisioned “Find My Fit” as a seamlessly integrated feature within Levi’s e-commerce platform, it was crucial to ensure that users unmistakably recognized they were interacting with an external tool. The initial overlay held paramount significance as it served as a gateway to accessing “Find My Fit” from any section of the website, even for users who hadn’t logged in or created an account. Furthermore, providing an option for users to continue as a guest was equally pivotal, recognizing that not all individuals wish to create an account profile, but still want to take full advantage of the valuable feature.
Final Design
“Find My Fit” stands as a testament to our dedication to providing Levi’s customers with an unrivaled shopping journey. By leveraging mobile phone cameras, and Tailored’s AI integration, we’ve not only offered a solution for precise measurements, but also created a tool that seamlessly integrates into Levi’s website, delivering personalized product recommendations tailored to the users size, style, and color preferences.
This product is more than just a digital tool; its a commitment to innovation, a promise of convenience, and a guarantee of a better and more personalized shopping experience. With “Find My Fit” Levi’s is able to address their customers concerns around shopping for apparel online, as well as their business goals of reducing overall return rates by 20%.
Reflection
Reflecting on our journey with the F6S-hosted hackathon in partnership with Levi’s, I’m immensely proud of what our team was able to achieve. Securing the second place title out of 15 talented teams is a testament to our dedication and innovative spirit. Our mission was to enhance the user experience of Levi’s website, while simultaneously addressing the challenge of decreasing online return rates for Levi’s, and I believe we’ve mad substantial strides in that direction.
Our technology and designs hold immense promise and are poised to make a real impact on the Levi’s website, as communication about implementing the technology is in conversations with Tailored and Levi’s stakeholders. This experience has reinforced my believe in the power of user-centered design and collaboration, as well as the potential for innovative solutions to transform the e-commerce landscape.
