Womens Clothes Shops Need Magic Mirrors Like They Need Cheese Graters

Mirror, Mirror on the wall; now find me the perfect dress!  What?

A firm in the UK has developed a computerized interactive mirror to complement the experience in womens clothes shops.  The device is called the Magic Mirror.  The shopper stands in front of the computer screen (the Magic Mirror) while the screen gets feedback from the shopper to determine her size and to suggest other clothing items.

If the shopper is looking for a little black dress, the mirror will make several suggestions and will display them below her picture on the mirror. She can select a variety of images, which will surround her own image in the Mirror to look as if she is wearing her selection. No need to try on the clothes.

The objective is to get the dress sitting without life on the hanger to look a bit more enticing by virtually putting it on the shopper. The little black dress might come alive.

If trying on clothes is not your favorite thing to do, this gadget may have you in mind but is it really helpful? Many women detest trying on clothes in retail clothing shops before they make a purchase. They are in a hurry or they have an aversion to the clothing store fitting rooms. The women may already have on complicated clothing which makes the off-with-clothes and on-with-clothes process a bit aggravating. That is often the case with women already wearing business suits, which are not simple to get off and on again.

Many of my girlfriends simply do not like looking at their bodies in front of commercial mirrors in women’s clothes shops or they have religious reasons for not exploring the fitting room experience. The fitting room experience is so difficult for them they are willing to risk having to make a trip back to the store to return a garment they had refused to try on. Or, they shop online for all their clothes.

At first glance, we suspect the Magic Mirror will get us shoppers out of the queues for the fitting rooms. Hallelujah for that! Unfortunately, it will then create queues in front of the Mirror. In fact, if the Magic Mirror works well, each clothes shop will have to have one gadget per customer. I personally could tie one up for hours. Although the lines to the fitting rooms may go down, the lines to the gadget will go up. No benefit there for the retailer or the shopper.

The Magic Mirror is interactive but not intrusive. Through its series of infrared cameras and computerized chips, it gives the shopper information about how she will look if she tried on a certain clothing item but it will not pass judgment or give the shopper a thumbs up or down.

The device will also not give you details about how any dress will actually fit. If you are looking for that little black dress that must fit just right, this new technology seems to be of small value. Right now, we are perfectly capable of holding a suit or dress up to our bodies and looking into a nearby mirror. What we need is to understand how the dress will actually FIT our body.

The Magic Mirror reminds me of the computerized selection tool used by a few furniture retailers. You select the furniture piece and then use their interactive computer to show what your piece would look like with different upholstery colors and styles. It is fun and informative but does it really help? It gives us the illusion that we have choices yet the changing “mirror” or computer screen does not provide us with the details of information we need in order to make an informed decision.

And who pays for this new technology? We shoppers will, of course. It will be passed on to the consumer, same as any other tangibles we want to have.

Bottom line, I believe the Magic Mirror is misinformed about what women need to enhance their shopping experience and what womens clothes shops need to improve sales.

Womens clothes shops need to invest in these new expensive gadgets that will not improve sales as much as they need cheese graters.  Hmmm, I just might go for the cheese grater as long as I could see it in the Magic Mirror first. Does it come in cherry to match my kitchen?