Mass-customized Target Market Sizing: Extending the Sizing Paradigm for Improved Apparel Fit

Abstract

We use a conceptual framework of sizing and fit issues to describe an extended paradigm for sizing and fit, which we call mass-customized target market sizing: that is, a sizing system based on and derived from measurement data exclusively from the people who represent an apparel firm's target market. The use of the conceptual framework provides help to expand our thinking to derive innovative solutions for sizing and fit while understanding and addressing all of the issues that must be resolved in creating a new system. Advancing technologies, especially the body scanner, are the tools that make new sizing systems possible through rapid, accurate measurement of populations and development of continuously updated measurement databases that can be sorted by multiple demographic factors. Our central argument for mass-customized target market sizing is that companies that focus on a well-defined target market, that create well designed clothing and sizing systems specifically for this market using anthropometric data, that fit the full range of body types and proportions of this market, that address issues arising from this model regarding design, production and distribution, and that communicate effectively with the market can succeed as a mass-customized business in an increasingly fragmented world. Use of population data, collected and analyzed according to firm-based and consumer-based models, can provide a powerful tool to satisfy target markets and differentiate apparel companies. Target market sizing models can also be expanded to include mass-customized apparel styling models based on the variables proposed within the conceptual framework.

Smartphone-Based Precision 3D Body Scanning Applications in Apparel and Footwear Markets

“…The average size is developed using a fit model whom has the body shape and measurements most similar to that of the ideal customer. Using this original size, multiple other sizes are created by defining the proportional increases and decreases of the base pattern [7,8,9].…”

“…Return rates and customer surveys in the apparel industry indicate that between thirty-five and fifty percent of female consumers do not feel satisfied with the fit of their clothing. Additionally, a Kurt Salmon Associates study reported that fifty-percent of women cannot find apparel that fits and these fit problems are the reason for a majority of catalog returns [7,8,15,16,17].…”

“…Additionally, hand measurements are subject to human error and subjectivity in where measurements are taken from, and 3D scanning eliminates this likelihood of invalid and unreliable measurements [2]. 3D scanning has made it significantly easier to collect, aggregate and analyze anthropometric data and in turn, have made the collection of body measurements from a large group of consumers faster, cheaper, more accurate, and overall more efficient than a traditional population study, allowing for more frequent data collection [7]. Furthermore, the better a retailer can understand their current customers and their body types/fit preferences, the more informed they can be on what they buy from their suppliers, lessening the amount of returned products and lost profits.…”

“…Another suggestion to improve current sizing from [7] is what they refer to as "mass customized target market sizing", a term used to describe an extension of the paradigm for sizing systems based on the collection of measurements from consumers who represent a company's target market. An example of this sizing system would be when you can find combinations of garment dimensions combining multiple variables such as jeans who come in number sizes, but also offer short, regular, and tall options within each size [7].…”

The role of fit information in consumer online reviews and individual characteristics in consumer's online purchase decisions

“…Recently, fit analysis and a method employing three-dimensional scan technology have been combined to evaluate visual fit (Ashdown et al, 2004;Bye & McKinney, 2010;Loker, Ashdown, & Schoenfelder, 2005). Body scanners have an advantage in that they can capture three-dimensional images that enable the evaluator to perform visual analysis of many aspects of fit (Ashdown & Loker, 2010). The only scale of fit analysis was developed by Bye and McKinney (2010) from a designer perspective to analyze fit.…”