By Tina Romito
Think ahead to the future, to a time where people no longer have to tediously try on clothing over and over again. Sounds convenient, doesn’t it? That time is actually closer people may think. The Intellifit team has designed a product to reduce the amount of time spent in the fitting room, saving customer’s time and patience.
Intellifit is a transparent glass booth that scans the clothed, human body to take various size measurements using its safe, low power radio waves to collect about 200,000 data points on the human body. All these measurements are taken within about 10 seconds. Once the measurements are complete, the Intellifit system provides the customer with a printout listing different sizes and brands in that particular store which will fit the customer’s body best according to the extensive measurements taken.
According to Intellifit’s marketing manager, Elizabeth Bannister, the Intellifit Company’s goal is to eventually have Intellifit systems in malls and for all clothing stores within to participate. If this goal is accomplished, shoppers will be able to use Intellifit to pinpoint what sizes they are in which brands and in which clothing stores.
Another goal for the workers at Intellifit is to have confidential profiles accessible to each customer on their Web site. It is anticipated that the Intellifit Web site will also provide customers with the resource to search within the site to quickly find what fits them best in the mall, department store or online.
The company is currently working with Levi Strauss, Lane Bryant, After Hours Formal Wear, David’s Bridal and Macy’s. A handful of stores currently have Intellifit in their stores like Macy’s and David’s Bridal. Macy’s in Willow Grove, Pa. is the first Macy’s to own an Intellifit system. Their Intellifit system resides in their Better Sportswear department. This particular Intellifit system provides the customer with their most accurate sizes in brands which are unique to Macy’s stores.
Macy’s Better Sportswear manager, Eileen T., admits that within the four months that the Pennsylvania location has had an Intellifit system that it has broken down at times. She is understanding of these complications because she is sensitive to the fact that Intellifit is a brand new technology that will need kinks worked out.
“People really seem to like this new invention,” Eileen said.
David’s Bridal in Houston, TX is another store that has the Intellifit system. The system has been installed in the Texas location for about three weeks.
“Some customers are a little weary but he did notice that the customers that did use Intellifit were given greater confidence when choosing which size clothing to try-on,” Rick Sanchez, the manager of the store, said.
The Intellifit system does more than just benefit customers. The measurements are collected as anonymous data and sent to clothing manufacturers and retailers so that they can better serve customers.
Clothing manufacturers can use the data to construct clothing that will fit real people of all sizes rather than make obscure-shaped designs that may barely fit anyone. Using the data, manufacturers can get a better idea of what their customer’s bodies actually look like. Manufacturers could perform their job more accurately as well as wasting less time, money, materials, and energy because of the data provided by Intellifit.
Retailers can purchase more wisely from the manufacturers based on the demographics of their customer’s sizes. Retailers can order more or less of different sizes based on which sizes are in higher or lower demand.
Intellifit was present at the annual DEMO technology conference. At this conference, sneak previews of new technology and inventions were available for viewing. At the DEMO conference, Journalists from USA Today were present and even seemed really interested in Intellifit since Edward C. Baig used Intellifit as his lead into his account of the DEMO conference. Associated Press Technology Editor, Frank Bajak wrote an article about Intellifit in which he quoted the system as “impressive.” Intellifit is receiving a lot of positive attention already.
Intellifit is on tour and was in New York at the Levi’s Store in SOHO March 13. Intellifit will also be appearing in New York again at Rockefeller Center on May 3. Also, on May 3, Intellifit can be seen on NBC’s “The Today Show”.
Bannister said she has been in many Intellifit booths including the Macy’s and Levi’s based systems and considers them extremely accurate. In a conversation over the phone, Bannister illustrated her excitement with the Intellifit system.
“I believe Intellifit is going to help revolutionize the way people shop for clothes,” Bannister said.