Now, try your clothes virtually before buying

MUMBAI, INDIA: Lowest rates, variety of brands, pay online with credit/debit cards, cash-on-delivery, special discounts and monthly installment schemes, free home delivery and 30 day replacement guarantee — are the standard features most online shopping portals and web-retailers are offering today.

While all these features have become sort of an accepted benchmark in the online retail industry, new entrants into this space are adopting modern concepts of innovative technology to build business models that are unique to customers and are out-of-the-box than the rest.

New Delhi based Lenskart.com is a one and half year old online optical store, which sells eye wear such as glasses, frames and contact lenses of leading brands at unbeatable prices to customers.

Recently, this online store embedded a virtual technology called ‘virtual mirror’ to give a unique user experience to customers before they can finally decide on buying its products.

‘Virtual mirror’ uses customer's picture either through a web-cam or existing photos can be uploaded onto the website; then it allows customers to select an eye wear and view his/her face on the portal. It helps users view their looks with different products before they could actually buy it.

According to Peyush Bansal, Lenskart.com founder and CEO, virtual technology is at its nascent stage; however, it is helping customers in taking a decision on buying the products.

''We bought the license software from an Indian company and embedded it onto the portal about 6 months back. After that the sales have gone up definitely as users get a completely different experience,” Bansal says.

Similarly, Kingchest.com, an online shop for lifestyle products such as home decor, fabrics, furnishing, dinning, bath accessories and other gift items, uses rendering engine for its innovative concept of ‘virtual interior designer’ and ‘soft fabric’.

The portal has embedded a rendering engine from a US based software firm Varatys, which allows users to create overlays on the parts of walls, rooms, décor, furnishings and exteriors along with colors, themes, designs and patterns.

According to Rajat Nagrath, Kingchest.com's founder and CEO, the website was conceptualized last October; however, at that time the application ‘virtual interior designer’ was available only in Flash but later it was converted to HTML 5 so it can be easily accessible across devices such as personal computer, laptops, tablets and others. 

It has an app section, which helps users design their rooms in three simple steps using  virtual technology that allows selection of room exteriors from the catalog, followed by selection of products, colors and patterns; One can also take the print of the photo or can email or share it on social media.

Beside the ‘virtual interior designer’, Nagrath informs that ‘soft fabric’ — a virtual fabric application - will be launched in 10 days, which will help users feel the texture, pattern and color of fabric.

“It’s not just about selling the products but it also helping the users do what they like in life,” Nagrath adds and points that ‘soft fabric’ is definitely the future.    

Going a step ahead is Zovi.com — online apparels and accessories brand for men and women. It uses the concept of virtual trial room called ‘Zovi Eye’ to help customers select apparels and accessories using an interactive webcam application.

“The technology is developed in-house and it provides unique user experience to customers. Though the site has completed a year now, the technology was embedded 3 months back and it is helping in conversion rate,” says Monappa. N, Zovi.com's head of Marketing.

In fact, Monappa says the technology is playing a key role especially in women accessories and jewelry segment with 25 per cent conversion rate of sale.