How do I look? SoftBank's Zozo offers tech specs to help buyers get skin tone right
29/01/2021 08:00
By Sam Nussey
TOKYO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Japanese online fashion retailer
Zozo Inc 3092.T on Friday launched skin tone measuring glasses
for ordering cosmetics online, making its latest fashion tech
offering as it expands beyond apparel.
"Zozoglass", a pair of spectacles covered with colour
swatches and markers, detects skin tone when scanned with a
smartphone for tailored cosmetics recommendations on Zozotown,
Japan's biggest online fashion site.
"Traditionally in Japan you'd go to a large department
store, you go to the counter and then you actually try stuff
on," Zozo's Chief Operating Officer Masahiro Ito said in an
interview.
"We're trying to replicate that through technology and give
the consumer confidence to buy online," he said.
"Zozoglass", which is available for preorder on Friday
before shipping from March, will be limited to foundation
initially before being expanded to cover other product lines.
Augmented reality functionality in the online retailer's app
will allow consumers to see how the make-up will look.
Fashon tech is being eyed by online retailers, which have
been boosted by shopping at home during the COVID-19 pandemic,
as a way to help consumers overcome some reservations about
buying remotely.
"I have a feeling that e-commerce has been introduced to a
whole swathe of new people that have not even thought of buying
clothes online before," said Ito.
Zozo, part of SoftBank's internet business Z Holdings Corp
4689.T , has shipped 1.4 million units of its "Zozomat", which
is used to measure feet for sizing recommendations.
The company plans to launch a successor to the
body-measuring "Zozosuit" this year which it says has fixed the
flaws of earlier iterations. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2HL23A
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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