Fits.me Launches World’s First Virtual Fitting Room

Leading UK retailer, Hawes & Curtis selects Fits.me’s innovative virtual fitting room for e-commerce

London, UK and Tallinn, Estonia – May 18, 2010 – Fits.me, the innovative biorobotics and virtual fitting room company for e-commerce clothing retailers and shoppers alike, announced today the official launch of the world’s first virtual fitting room for online clothing retailers in partnership with Hawes & Curtis, the leading UK specialized business and luxury shirt retailer. The biggest challenge for the e-commerce apparel category is the lack of a fitting room that allows online shoppers to “try before they buy”.

Fits.me solves this challenge, and aims to reduce apparel returns and increase sales by allowing online shoppers to see clothes on a robotic mannequin with the exact dimensions of the buyer’s body via a Virtual Fitting Room. It accomplishes this by using robotic mannequins with artificial muscles that can simulate the shape and size of any body type. The robotic mannequins were created using biorobotics and scientific algorithms based on more than 30,000 3-D human body scans, and are capable of shape shifting into nearly 100,000 different types of body shapes.

Touker Suleyman, owner of Hawes and Curtis and one of the most influential people in UK fashion retail comments, “This is an exciting e-commerce development that will alter the way our consumers shop. We are very committed and look forward to using Fits.me within our business.”

“We’re pleased to announce the launch of the Fits.me Virtual Fitting Room and our partnership with Hawes & Curtis, one of the UK’s leading specialized business and luxury shirt retailers,” states Heikki Haldre, CEO and co-founder of Fits.me. “Our technology solves a huge challenge for online apparel retailers and consumers. The initial research trials we’ve conducted with our Virtual Fitting Room have proven a 28% reduction in online apparel returns, while increasing sales three times over. Retailers can sell more with fewer returns which directly impacts their P&L.”

Online clothing sales produce an estimated $31 billion in annual revenue and is the fastest growing e-commerce category besting even computers and books, yet only 7% of all clothing is currently sold online.

Adds Haldre; “The e-commerce market is truly wide open for our Fits.me robotic mannequins and our Virtual Fitting Room for online retailers. This is only the beginning.”

About Fits.me
Fits.me is the virtual fitting room for online clothing retailers that addresses and solves the single biggest problem for the e-commerce category: the lack of a fitting room. Accomplished through biorobotic and scientific algorithms, the company uses robotic mannequins that are capable of shape shifting into almost 100,000 different types of body shapes so a consumer can visualize how different sizes and styles of clothing might look on their body type before they purchase. The Fits.me Virtual Fitting Room makes buying clothing online much easier for consumers because they can see the actual fit of a piece of clothing based on their own unique measurements – just like in the real-life fitting room. The biorobotics “visual size chart” is also capable of increasing sales and reducing costly returns for online clothing retailers.

Biorobotics scientists and anthropometric research partners in Estonia and Germany largely developed the core technology behind Fits.me.

Founded in 2009 and based in Estonia and London, Fits.me is a privately held company backed by the Estonian Development Fund and Enterprise Estonia. Learn more at www.fits.me.

About Hawes & Curtis
Established in 1913 by Ralph Hawes and Freddie Curtis, Hawes and Curtis are well known for their subtle, well-fitted tailored shirts based on classic British tradition for both men and women. Hawes and Curtis also produce accessories including ties, cufflinks, silk handkerchiefs and eveningwear. Hawes and Curtis has been such a phenomenal success since the launch of its original store in Jermyn Street, that the brand name has become part of popular culture extending to over 25 stores in the UK.