Abof's return on innovation

Fashion etailer aims to cut product returns and enhance user experience with the help of technology

E-commerce companies have to contend with a high percentage of product returns — nearly a third of all items sold, according to multiple reports — compared to traditional firms. In just over a year of its inception, fashion etailer Abof has been trying to make the most of technology to minimise product returns with a view to enhance user experience.

The Aditya Birla group-owned company is a late entrant in the crowded Indian online fashion market, which is estimated by Google India to touch $35 billion by 2020. But Abof's president and chief executive, Prashant Gupta, claims that unlike other players who witness a 15-20 per cent rate for customer-initiated product returns the company has managed to bring down the figure to 10-12 per cent.

“When we launched nearly one and a half years ago we realised one of the biggest problems in this industry is high product returns,” he says, adding the technological innovation on the part of Abof has focused on ensuring the product received by the customer is the best possible fit and consistent with its description on the portal.

He reckons the percentage of customer-initiated returns and those returned due to failed delivery would together make up between 25 and 30 per cent. Abof initially tried to solve the problem for women, by tying up with a London-based company called Metail, a virtual fitting room service. Its solution includes an automated robotics-type cataloguing facility in the company’s studio. An automated camera takes 16 shots of a garment draped in a mannequin, and the data vis-à-vis visual depiction is captured at the cataloguing facility. Metail also renders 3D imagery, which helps to create a model based on the body specifications of an individual consumer.

“The reason we chose Metail was that they ask only a couple of questions. That is something customers are comfortable with. The visual imagery helps you decide when you are buying,” says Gupta, adding that from a start of 10 per cent the company has extended the Metail tools to 60-70 per cent of its women’s catalogue of items which are enabled for 3D trial room viewing. He concedes that customers may not necessarily buy the recommended fit, and the company is working with its partner for improvements.

Abof has tied up with another tech firm, Fitanalytics, to introduce fitting recommendations on men’s products. It uses the size guide and data chart available for any product and brand, where the customer can key in information to get a recommendation. The size could get updated as each brand has a unique fit. “All of the technologies that we have deployed are meant to solve the fitting problems. The touch and feel of fabric is probably the next mountain to climb to somehow make it easier for the consumer to understand,” says Gupta.

The two biggest players in the online fashion space, Myntra and Jabong, have together cornered about 70 per cent share of the market. Abof, which has targeted 15 per cent share by 2020, has focused attention on millennials unlike the leading players which are marketplaces catering to various segments. As a result, sharp technology can hold much appeal for its young target audience.

Its foremost reason for curbing returns is ensuring a smooth customer experience. While Gupta doesn’t term it a “make or break” element, he considers it to be one of the top priorities. Also, he adds, technology would continue to play a significant role because the more data the company receives on returns the better it can design the products and describe them on the portal. “A lot of technological innovation is possible mostly from the point of view of automation and reducing manual activity, which is costly, onerous and error-prone. For example, the robotics facility which we have for the 3D trial room is completely automated. There is one person manning it for hundreds of products every day.”

Abof reportedly reached annual gross merchandise value of Rs 200 crore in the completion of its first year. Without divulging numbers, Gupta says year-on-year until last month it grew three times. The launch of actor Shahid Kapoor’s label Skult four months ago — touted as India’s first athleisure (clothing designed for workouts and other athletics activities) brand — lifted Abof’s growth and took its share of private labels beyond 50 per cent.

Anil Talreja, partner, Deloitte Haskins and Sells, agrees that technological innovation can be a differentiator for online companies. He gives the examples of the ATM pizza machine, fashion mirror and small experience centres as  products of today’s technology which have caught on although they may not have taken off yet in India.

For e-commerce companies in India, including in the category of fashion, he adds, “The priorities for long-term sustainability is clearly around customer experiences. How do you improve customer experience and more importantly, things like HR, packaging, ancilliary, logistics, etc. are very important factors.”

Tech Benefits

• Abof claims it has managed to bring down customer-initiated product returns to 10-12 per cent, as against 20-25 per cent for other players
• About 60-70 per cent of its catalogue of women’s items is enabled for 3D trial room viewing
• It also relies on technology to garner data about customer returns in order to describe a product or design products smarter