Metail Technology Improves Service and Reduces Returns Read the case and answer the questions that follow. Studying this case will help you better understand how concepts relating to controlling through online technology can be applied in an organization such as Metail Technology. Shopping online is clearly an easy and convenient way to purchase just about anything. But what about clothes? The problem is that clothing sizes vary between retailers, and styles, patterns, and colors are difficult to discern on a computer or mobile screen. What often happens is that customers order several sizes of one particular item they like, try those on, keep the one that fits, and return the rest. This becomes very costly for retailers. To ameliorate this, one company has found a solution to help online retailers reduce costly returns and help customers find just what they're looking for the first time. The company is Metail, and it is changing how fashions are purchased online. Metail provides a revolutionary approach to clothes shopping by letting customers try on items virtually. Customers can simply upload their important measurements like their height and weight, but also specific dimensions such as bra size or hip and waist circumferences. These data are then used to create a three-dimensional virtual model of the person. The shopper can even customize the digital mannequin further by specifying ethnicity or modifying the mannequin based on a person's unique shape. Once the customer's avatar is created, the shopper can choose among the online retailer's items and "try on" the clothes. The customer can then view how the garment would appear based upon eight different angles of the mannequin. According to Jim Downing, chief technology officer for Metail, "That gives us one reference shape of how the garment would be, then at runtime we model the user's shape and have a physics simulation that we've fitted to the garment and digitized in order to model how the garment is going to change." At Metail, they're modeling literally hundreds of garments per day for online retailers located around the world. At the moment, it costs retailers approximately $13 per garment to digitize it. However, cost controls are being put in place that should eventually see the price to retailers at around $4 per garment. In addition, at some point, Metail wants to develop technology that makes the mannequin more realistic and would be based on an actual photograph of the shopper. But this is an expensive endeavor and would require significant data storage. "The choreography," said Downing, "of data around the world to eventually get a picture of a person in clothes is considerable, even at our scale." According to Downing, "You can look to Amazon's success to see how far you can go with better service and better product information without anything too flashy." This is important because the simpler the interface is, the more likely customers are to have a positive shopping experience. "It's not that people are bad at following instructions," Downing added, "it's that they are bad at reading them at all." As Metail changes the online clothes shopping landscape, it is important to recognize how far online retailing has come. Only a couple of years ago, the best an online customer could hope for were detailed photographs and text describing the garment; however, Metail is providing much more. "You can't engage fully with clothes online and you never will be able to, but there's a lot of mileage in being able to get closer than just a photo and some text," Downing said. 61 Questions 19-7 How important is Metail's technology to online retailers? Explain. 19-8 How can Metail's virtual mannequins help online retailers with the controlling function of management? 19-9 What are the potential challenges or problems that may occur at an online retailer with Metail's virtual mannequin technology? 19-10 Does the concept of a virtual mannequin interest you? If two similar online clothing retailers offered items you like, but only one had the virtual mannequin, which would you be more likely to buy from? Why?