CanelaStyles: A little Research

rAs I was doing some research on brands that have introduced themselves into the plus size market, I learned by a New York Times article, that many brands just stop producing sizes higher than 12 because of proper space to carry the entire existing inventory and the extended sizes. Another reason is the psychology behing the women when shopping. Plus size women do not like trying clothing in the fitting rooms where the smaller petite women are trying stuff on. This explains a lot. Women in this size range tend to buy and not try on, which creates an opportunity to the e-commerce sector. However, companies such as Gap had only sold in their sites as these sizes would leave their stores with not space.

With that 28 percent of the adult population being obese last year, the highest percentage yet. Almost two-thirds of American women are either overweight or obese, according to the most recent CDC figures. According to NPD Group, a market research firm, the plus-size market increased 1.4 percent while overall women’s apparel declined 0.8 percent in the 12 months leading up to April 2010 versus the same period a year earlier. However, the fashion industry has decided to embrace what is going on with the women's body in America and capitalize on it. Even thought like I mentioned above, carrying more sizes means more stock and sales floor space, brands such as Ellie Tahari has expanded their offerings to more sizes as well as lower end retailers like Target.

One of the strategies that these companies are following, is that when buying online, they need their customers to buy the right sizes as the more extended the sizes are, the more challenge it is to fit the best. What I found interesting was that in order to acces the fit issue, a professor at Cornell who studies the body and fit of humans, created a three -dimensional scan which make the process of style selection an easy one. Customers will view their own 3D image, where they can rotate and see all angles, styles and that fits that are the best for the customer. See picture below. I also have included a YouTube video of this amazing system to virtually try on anything.