Scanner sizes up shoppers for clothing retailers

Unique Solutions Ltd. has developed an answer to the age-old problem of finding clothes that fit. The Halifax-based company has developed Mybestfit, a system that can scan someone fully clothed in 10 seconds, and provide measurements that are then used to create a personalized shopping guide.

But all this didn’t happen overnight – the program has been in development for nearly a decade.

Surviving that long required more than just solid investors and a persuasive business model. It required a passionate belief in the product and stick-to-itiveness, says Tanya Shaw, 39, the president and CEO of Unique Solutions. Her company, which employs 50 people, will soon roll out its technology in major shopping centres across the United States, and is ready to license it to a U.S.-based partner who will bring it to China.

Mybestfit fitting booth
Photo: Courtesy of Unique Solutions

You had a vision of something that didn’t exist. Where does that kind of vision come from?

It’s a combination of that entrepreneurial spark or idea and really being passionate about it and believing it can make a difference. I’ve held onto that vision and stayed focused on pushing it forward because I really do believe women should not be changing their bodies to try to fit into clothing. I’ve seen it for men as well. They just need to find the clothing that fits their body. There’s a fundamental issue around body image and self-esteem. Vision is one thing, but you need the passion, too.

How does the product work?

We help shoppers find the clothing that will fit them best. You go to a shopping centre and step inside a circular booth, fully dressed. A wand rotates around the booth. There are about 200,000 different data points captured on your body, which allow us to extract a whole host of measurements. We match you to the garments you’re looking for. For example, let’s say a woman went to a mall and wanted to buy jeans. She gets scanned, gets an ID number and, when she uses that ID number with our system, she could say, “Show me all the jeans in the mall that fit me.” Or “Just show me the jeans that are dark, denim, boot-cut and don’t cost me more than $50.” The first thing on her list is the garment that fits her best and matches her search. It would tell her exactly what size to buy, and which store to go to find it.

How did you come up with the idea?

I had a clothing company prior to this. I was really surprised at how many people were bothered by the frustration of trying clothing on. If it didn’t fit right, it made them want to go home and eat ice cream. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if everything you tried on just fit you?” There is clothing out there for pretty much every body type. But until now, it’s been very hard for the consumer to know which brand or designer will fit them best.

What challenges did you face in starting this company?

We knew the market wasn’t ready yet. We attempted to perfect our system until online shopping and technology caught up with this vision. We acquired some technology–a company in the U.S.–that allowed us to scan while fully clothed. Prior to that, you had to get undressed to get scanned. The next step was figuring out the right business model for the brand, the retailers, the consumer and our company, of course.

What business model did you develop?

This is a free service to the customer–the brands pay instead. They pay when their name is shown as a recommendation, similar to the Google AdWords business model, where you type in a word and a sponsored link comes up. The brands pay when a recommendation is shown. But they can’t pay to be on the list. If they don’t fit you, they’re not on the list–unlike Google AdWords, where anyone can pay for you to see it. In our case, obviously for the integrity of our system, we need to make sure it truly does fit you before it goes on your list.

How does it work online?

You have to be in a mall to get scanned and get in the system. But after that, as long as your measurements haven’t changed in a meaningful way, you have an ID number, you log in and then shop from those brands.

How did you market this to clothing brands?

A key was to launch at one of the largest retail shopping centres in the U.S., the King of Prussia Mall, just outside Philadelphia. Pretty much all the major brands are represented there. As we were approaching the brands corporately, they were able to speak to their local district manager, who would have seen it in the mall and perhaps tried it.

How did you convince the brands to get on board?

If you think about it, they’re getting an extremely targeted consumer. When you look at conversion rates, not only are we driving customers to them, but also the customers walking in are converting to sales at a much higher rate.

How do you intend to roll out your product?

We have about 50 brands in our system. Our plan was to wait until we got to around that 50 threshold before we got to more locations. You want to make sure that when the consumer uses the system, there’s lots of choice. We expect by the end of 2013 to be at about 400 locations in the U.S.

What about Canada?

We don’t have firm plans yet for Canadian rollouts, but I’m sure we’ll be launching at some key locations across Canada.

Why is it taking longer to launch in Canada?

The size of the malls. There are shopping malls in the U.S. that have 12 million visits a year. We don’t have that same scale here yet.

Is it a struggle getting venture capital together in Canada?

It’s even harder in Atlantic Canada. Finding access to the capital and then the right partner has definitely been a challenge.

Do you think Canadian entrepreneurs are willing to stick it out through the long development periods?

I’m not sure there’s a difference in Canada vs. the U.S. It’s all about how much fire that entrepreneur has in their belly, and how much they really believe in what they’re doing. It can be a hard path, for sure, to do something completely new, and finance it, and grow it, and overcome technological hurdles. But the rewards are definitely there if you stick through it.

What can you say to other business people that would guide them through that process?

A big part of it has been staying very firmly connected to our vision of what this opportunity is and where it can go. It sounds too simple, but really the main thing is not giving up, and sticking with it through to the point that the market is ready for what you have. Those financiers will see you delivering on what you said you were going to do, even if it takes longer or has a few twists and turns.

This article has been edited for length and clarity.