Walmart Aims to Overtake Amazon Through the Zeekit Acquisition

Walmart’s Zeekit Acquisition Explained: Analysis and Points to Take

Due to the pandemic, many changes are happening in the Fashion Industry. Keeping up with the trend, two of the biggest retail companies which are Walmart and Amazon have been implementing new strategies as the widespread virus affects their consumer engagements. As we all know, Walmart mostly leads in the physical space or the conventional way to get stuff. Conversely, Amazon has control over online shopping.

Today, most of the time, we shop online instead of going to a physical store. As the world changes through technology, the constant rivalry between these two retail players gets tighter. Both made significant efforts to work out regions where they are inadequate. So Walmart is known to rule that the one-stop-shop will exhibit another level of e-commerce with Zeekit acquisition.

Exploring the Zeekit Acquisition

Walmart has aimed the expansion at competitors like Amazon, the top seller of apparel in the U.S. In fact, Amazon surpassed Walmart and took that title and now accounts for about 11% to 12% of all clothing sold in the U.S. and 34% to 35% of all apparel sold online, according to an estimate by Wells Fargo in mid-March.

According to Wells Fargo, Walmart is the country’s second-largest apparel seller, with an estimated $33.43 billion in total apparel and footwear sales in 2020 compared with Amazon’s $41.15 billion. But by the Zeekit Acquisition, Incandela said the organization would bring expertise in real-time image technologies, computer vision, and artificial intelligence, which it can use for other parts of Walmart’s fashion business.

More About Zeekit

Zeekit is a thriving startup company that offers another, more intelligent shopping experience for the consumer. Zeekit CEO and co-founder Yael Vizel came up with the idea while serving as a captain in the Israeli air force reserve. Combining fashion and technology, Zeekit has fostered the primary unique Virtual Fitting Room. It allows customers to see themselves in any dress found on the web. Walmart said it would get a virtual fitting room to fire up Zeekit as it makes a drive into style and obliges clients looking for garments on the web. However, they did not reveal the monetary terms of the acquisition. The retailer declined a meeting, referring to the peaceful period before reporting its first-quarter benefit.

Through the Zeekit Acquisition, Denise Incandela, Walmart U.S.′ executive vice president, said they expect to improve the client experience and make web-based shopping more friendly. She added in the website post, “Virtual try-on is a game-changer and solves what has historically been one of the most difficult things to replicate online. Understanding fit and how an item will look on you, and Zeekit will help us deliver an inclusive, immersive, and personalized experience for our diverse customer base.”

In addition to that, the difference between the Zeekit technology and other virtual try-on apps and experiences is that it uses the customer’s real photo and body dimensions.

How Does Virtual Fitting Room Function?

When the technology launches on Walmart’s website, clients will be able to transfer photographs of themselves or choose from different models representing their height, shape, and skin tone.

The technology will show how the clothing would fit and resemble the experience they have at a store. Customers will be able to use the feature to try on items from Walmart’s private labels and the national brands it carries. The items can then be mixed and matched with fashions from different retailers in their virtual closet, such as Free People, Champion, and Levi Strauss. Another distinct advantage of this Zeekit acquisition is the client can likewise enrol a companion’s assistance in settling on a buy by sharing the virtual outfit and hearing a friend’s point of view.

Advantages of Virtual Rooms to Walmart

One of the advantages is backing on the web deals because shoppers would be willing to pay if they could experience it and virtually try on clothing items or beauty products without physically touching the object itself.  The artificial intelligence (AI) technology innovation puts the thing over live imaging of the client so that they can check the size, style, and attack of an item they’re considering purchasing without having to go to the physical store.

The second will be lesser return rates. As we all know, one downside of ordering clothing online is that you can’t see what you look at until the dress has arrived. It has a higher risk of dissatisfaction because of inaccurate sizes that the consumer chooses. It might be the size is small, or they order a bigger size for them. This causes a higher possibility of refund or return orders, but the virtual fitting room helps solve that problem. Since shoppers get to see the item on them virtually, it allows the consumer to modify the sizes and other preferences before buying that can prevent unsatisfied consumers.

Aside from the virus wandering around outside, the main reason why shoppers buy online is convenience. Nowadays, there’s a lot of people who prefer to stay at home for various reasons. For example, parents who need to attend to their child can’t go out quickly. Virtual fitting rooms (VFR) carry an extraordinary opportunity to the design business by empowering buyers to practically try on items. It creates a fantastic shopping experience by combining the web and in-store more customer-friendly.

The Zeekit acquisition will make shopping more fun, social, and straightforward for Walmart customers. This is the opportunity that Walmart sees as the most proficient method to overtake Amazon.

Liked the article? Have some feedback or inquiries? You can follow our website for more business news.