Introduction to

Artificial
Intelligence
Apparel Retailing

Submitted By :

Achintya Mishra (BFT/19/150)

Reeya Chhetri (BFT/19/140)
Sarthak Agarwal (BFT/19/240)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In preparation of this assignment, we had to take the help and guidance of a few
respected sources, who deserve our deepest gratitude. As the completion of this
assignment gave us much pleasure, we would like to show our gratitude towards
Mr. T. V. S. N. Murthy, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence Instructor,
National Institute of Fashion Technology, who, after numerous consultations, guided
us well on this opportunistic assignment.

In addition, we would also like to thank him for introducing us to the methodology of
work, and whose passion for the "underlying structures" had lasting effect. We
would also like to thank our parents for motivating us with the assignment.
Many people, especially our classmates have made valuable comments on our paper
which inspired us to improve the overall quality of this assignment.
CONTENTS
1. Introduction

2. Major Fashion Retailers using AI

3. How is AI Revolutionizing the

Industry?

4. Conclusion

5. Bibliography
Introduction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has cleared into numerous
enterprises with the possibility to change organizations
through higher speed, brought operational expenses and
other costs down to a depth of shopper and market
information that guarantee a solid competitive edge.
Artificial intelligence is a part of computer science that
animates human behaviour in computer-controlled machines
to perform undertakings related with human thinking and
capacities.

Characterized as an innovation that has the capacity of

computers, electronic devices or machines to perform
assignments that are ordinarily human, Artificial Intelligence
(AI) is an innovation that is growing quickly. As it keeps on
propelling, presently is the ideal time for style brands to
receive AI. The individuals who don't jump aboard now will
likely understand the estimation of AI past the point of no
return, and style brands utilizing Artificial Intelligence would
have just taken the innovation to another level.
Valued at over 3 trillion dollars, the global fashion industry contributes to a healthy 2% of the global GDP. Be it
through the sewing machine or the eCommerce market, the fashion industry has always been the pioneers of
technological innovation. In the 21st century, technology-driven innovations like artificial intelligence (AI) or
machine learning in the fashion industry are changing every aspect of this forward-looking business domain.

The use of AI in the fashion industry of 2020 has become so well entrenched that 44% of the fashion retailers
(who have not adopted AI) are today facing bankruptcy. As a result of this, global spending on AI technologies by
the fashion & retail industry is expected toreach $7.3 billion each year by the year 2022.
Major Fashion Retailers Using AI
TOMMY HILFIGER
IBM has teamed up with Tommy Hilfiger and the Fashion
Institute of Technology (FIT) Infor Design and Tech Lab for a
project called ‘Reimagine Retail’ – a way to help give retailers
an edge by equipping them with skills in AI design.

Students of FIT were given access to IBM’s AI research, from

computer vision to natural language processing, and used the
plethora of data to design better personalized outfits. They
found that the use of AI allowed design teams to reduce lead
times and generally increase their creativity. The ability to
analyze and learn from thousands of images and videos
quickly using the power of AI gave the designers greater
insight into creating the right product, for the right
person.
AMAZON
Amazon released Amazon Go. It is the first store of
its kind where no checkout is required. Consumers
simply enter the store using the Amazon Go app to
browse and navigate the products they want and
then leave. The store is partially-automated, with
customers being able to purchase products without
using a cashier or checkout station.

They launched 21 stores in Chicago, New York, San

Francisco and Seattle. Consumers first scan the
Amazon Go app when they enter and continue to
shop as usual. Cameras and sensors track the items
collected from shelves, which are later collected in
the consumer’s cart. Once the consumer is done
and proceeds to check out, their cart is checked out
automatically with the user’s payment details on
file. Thus, the consumer experiences a shopping
experience without any queues.
DIOR
In March 2017, reports circulated that the Paris-based fashion brand had
launched an AI beauty assistant through the Facebook Messenger platform called
Dior Insider. While we were unable to locate an official announcement, the
company reportedly announced the launch to newsletter subscribers via email.

The AI chatbot communicates with users, initially greeting them by name and
through a series of questions proceeds to determine what types of products they
are interested in within the company’s skincare or makeup offerings.

A 2016 report on luxury brand trends published by the PMX advertising agency
reveals that social media drives 6.3 percent of website traffic to luxury brand
websites. Facebook is currently the leading social platform that drives the most
sales in fashion. Our attempts to access Dior Insider in July 2017 from a mobile
device revealed that the page was either down or has been deleted. It is unclear if
the company has pulled the feature altogether or if it is currently under
maintenance. In its 2016 annual report, Dior published six months of R&D costs
totalling 61 million euros (roughly $71,751,250) as of December 2016. Costs are
chiefly due to scientific research and development expenditures for skincare and
makeup products. There is no specific mention of AI.
AR/VR IN PRODUCT
MERCHANDISE
The main reason why some fashion shoppers avoid buying online is that
they need some in-store experience where they can touch and try items.
The absence of a try-on option concerns fashion jewelry retailers, who
receive the most income from offline sales. So, how to fill in the gap
between fashion online shopping and buyers' desire to try jewelry before
buying? The solution is a virtual try-on feature powered by Augmented
Reality, integrated into an online store or e-commerce mobile application.
AR try-on uses algorithms and sensors to detect the position of a buyers'
camera on mobile devices, and then overlays 3D objects atop real-world
surroundings, making the online shopping experience more personal,
unique, and engaging. Thus, virtual AR try-on helps fashion shoppers to try
any product without leaving their homes, which significantly impacts a
buyers' decision to make a purchase. Around 72% of fashion shoppers
bought a piece they didn't intend to buy after using AR virtual try on.

Pandora, a fashion jewelry retailer, applied this technology for its shopping
mobile application. We participated in this project as developers of 3D
models of jewelry. To try on any jewelry from Pandora's product catalog,
users need to complete the face-scanning process so the app's algorithm
can see the borders of the face and then place 3D models of jewelry,
developed by us. Pandora app users can also get all the information about
the jewelry that caught their attention.
How is AI Revolutionizing the
Industry?
The fastest way to find your look - AI-driven visual search helps shoppers to promptly find their
desired fashions. Pinterest recently launched a visual search tool called Lens, which uses machine
vision to detect items on the web or in the Pinterest library and suggest related items – like a
Shazam for products. Neiman Marcus launched the AI-driven Snap. Find. Shop. mobile app;
customers use their smartphone cameras to take pictures of an item they like and the app displays
similar items from the store’s inventory. Retail brands using visual search for a superior online
shopping experience include Asos, John Lewis, Shoes.com, Nordstrom, Hook (an aggregator of all
brands) and Urban Outfitters.

Managing inventory - A huge problem that retailers face is over-ordering and losing out on profit
due to the unsold product. It has always been quite tricky to keep business moving, yet not hold
too much that you are left with wasted items. Today, companies like Chain of Demand use machine
learning algorithms to make more accurate predictions and choices. While demand forecasting
techniques have been around for years, traditional methods only used historical sales data. The
majority of calculative work needed to be done by humans and with limitations when the data sets
go over 10,000. Yet, with machine learning, you can reduce forecasting errors by up to 50%, and
are not restricted to how many data points and sources are used, thereby making more precise
predictions.
Improved customer service & communication – Calling and emailing, while
still prevalent amongst many businesses, are slowly becoming a thing of
the past. In the last few years, the emergence of chat-bot technology has
significantly increased conversion and communication between the
customer and fashion brands. From IBM Watson to Hubspot Chatbot, there
are a multitude of solutions that help track leads, answer questions, and
even give product recommendations.

Reduced returns – Apparel returns take approximately 3x longer to inspect

than other verticals. This makes operational costs quite high. However, with
the help of AI, retailers can help customers to make more informed
purchase decisions (as described above). This increase in customization and
improved communication prevents dissatisfaction, and in turn reduces the
return rate. Retailers lose about $642.6 billion every year from preventable
returns, which is why the use of AI would be incredible.

The best way to ensure the price is right - Big data tools like “Incompetitor”
help retailers maintain a competitive pricing strategy, combining AI and
machine learning. Retailers integrate this API into a brand’s data, so there’s
a rules-based engine that keeps prices optimized, depending on real-time
external factors like inventory, competitors’ out-of-stock situations and
discounts. This integration allows retailers to optimize their price and, for
instance, ensure they always sell a specific SKU 10% cheaper than
Amazon.
Shop like a stylist – To give tech-savvy, fashion-conscious millennials and Gen Zs a mobile personal
stylist, the Hook team at Intelligence Node created the first AI-generated fashion feed for
consumers. Hook learns, in real time, what a shopper likes just by analyzing which product images
the individual has liked or added their online wish listed, so shoppers find items they love, fast. The
app sends shoppers real-time price drop alerts on their wish listed or liked products. Hook helps
consumers shop like a sophisticated stylist by gaining unprecedented search capability to find a
specific item they want with a single view of the item across brands so they can compare prices
and get the best deal.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that AI is revolutionizing the fashion
industry in ways no one would’ve imagined. In this
rapid change retailers, manufacturers, designers, and
managers alike are learning to benefit greatly by
harnessing the underlying power of AI: machine
learning.

Companies like Chain of Demand are some of the

several start-ups that are standing at the forefront of
this disruption. Through the use of AI and big data,
fashion retailers are able to use such solutions to
predict best and worst sellers with better accuracy
than ever before. Not only does this open a field of
opportunity for growth in profit, it also leads the way
to greater sustainability by reducing inventory waste.
Bibliography
https://theappsolutions.com/blog/development/ai-in-online-clothing-retail/

https://www.countants.com/blogs/ai-and-machine-learning-for-fashion-
industry-global-trends-benefits/

https://www.intelligencenode.com/blog/fashion-artificial-intelligence-ux/

https://www.whichplm.com/the-future-of-fashion-ai-changing-fashion-
retail-industry/

https://www.intelistyle.com/ai-fashion-retail-applications/

https://fashnerd.com/2019/06/how-to-implement-artificial-intelligence-in-
fashion-retail/

https://fashionretail.blog/2018/04/30/artificial-intelligence-in-fashion/

https://www.ilovefashionretail.com/fashion-forecasting/artificial-
intelligence-ai-fashion-retail/