• Linkdin

Interview with Sridhar Tirumala

Sridhar Tirumala
Sridhar Tirumala
CEO & Co-Founder
Trupik
Trupik

Survival of the FITtest
Virtual fitting rooms meant to bridge the gap between e-commerce channels and physical stores are among the latest entrants that add to the convenience of online shopping. These virtual services available as mobile applications and web services, show online shoppers how certain outfits will look on them without having to try them out for real. Sridhar Tirumala, chief executive officer and co-founder of Trupik, a company that created the 3D trial room Trupik Connect, tells Fibre2Fashion how it works.

What inspired you to develop Trupik Connect?

In spite of huge technological developments like mobile technology and e-commerce, consumers are extremely uncertain and dissatisfied with online shopping. Being technology lovers, our team has recognised the technology needs that enable consumers to have an experience of a 2000 sq ft store on the 4-inch LCD screen of a mobile phone.

This is a vision to create a veritable in-store experience for the shoppers since it has been felt that there is a clear gap in this segment where more and more are drawn towards the online habit but are restricted to just buying the garments of a particular size available and what "they think suits" them. Without any product experience, the sale is surely happening, but the scope for discontent is high. We realised that there is tremendous scope-driven by technology and inspired by the conviction-for a virtual experience to be created. It was a sincere attempt to create, and not imitate by working on the habit of online buying. We wanted to offer a solution where technology solves the need of the hour.

The fashion industry is growing at the rate of 2.1 per cent globally, while fashion retail in India is growing at 11 per cent-which leaves us with a tremendous scope of growth. Also, the fact that only 15 per cent of buyers are shopping online, the scope all the more tremendous.
 

While this is a great option for online channels, it is not really a necessity for retail stores. What are your comments on this?

Trupik is positioned so that a new channel of shopping is created which is a hybrid of online and retail stores-by marrying the best of online and offline shopping experiences.

Fashion is highly personal, and is highly iterative in nature. A pure online solution requires one single day for one iteration and consumers do not have the patience of having to wait an entire day every time that they want to try out a new set of clothes. Currently, retail stores have access to their consumers for only as long as they are in the stores. Consumers need to visit each and every store to try their products before reaching a decision to buy.

So, Trupik connects the consumers directly to the brands and their stores through the mobile platform. This enables our consumers to have a complete fashion solution in less than two hours. Trupik technology allows the brands to present only the relevant garments to the consumers-with high precision-while the consumer is outside the store. In effect, Trupik technology allows brands to customise the brands' physical stores for each and every consumer, and present the products at the convenience of the consumers, just the way that stores present while the consumer is in the store, including the trial room. The consumer and his/her fashion become central to the experience, as opposed to the product and its price. An essential human touch over and above the technology, provided by the brand's stores to the consumers, will fulfill 360 degrees of consumer's fashion needs.

Are you planning to partner with other brands, considering that you plan to set up over 45 more kiosks in various locations?

Currently, we have partnered with 16 premium brands, and partnerships with more premium brands, mostly international brands, are in the pipeline.

Trupik Kiosks have been launched in multiple stores in Hyderabad. What kind of response are you getting from them?

Consumers are blown away in seeing the new possibilities. Their expression is very similar to the one when people were able to find all the relevant information when Google was launched. Consumers are able to quickly connect the dots to realise that-now at their convenience-they can do efficient fashion shopping at their favorite brand stores using their smart phones, including trying out clothes in addition to being advised about fashion in real time by the fashion advisors of the stores.

Did you come across any limitations of the product after launching the kiosks? How do you plan to deal with these limitations?

Consumers have limited time at the stores so as to be scanned. Currently, Trupik takes 30 seconds to scan the consumer's body. Consequently, we have improved our solution. Consumers can now download the app and create their avatar with their smartphones even without going to the stores. This avatar will suffice in terms of ensuring the fit and styling. With the kiosks located around the city, consumers can get their face scanned in less than 10 seconds. Upon scanning, consumers will be able to see their entire body, including the face, to get a complete replica of their body draped in various garments.

What are some of the most loved features of Trupik Connect?

The virtual trial room on the mobile that gives the perfect option of draping the garment on the 3D image appearing as per the specifications given by the user. The look and feel for different sizes are shown, making it clear for a choice. Also, the option to upsell and suggestions of a matching garment makes it all the more alluring. Trupik also gives incredible options to recommend garments and outfits to friends as well as share your own look with friends.  On the marketing front, the simplest navigation and user-friendly browsing features are available so as to pick one's garments of choice. From a consumer perspective, a fashion advisor who can interact on behalf of the brands in a non-intrusive feature.

Are you planning to add any new features to this mobile application in the near future?

We will be extending the current platform to enable social shopping. For example, you can recommend garments to your friends, and your friends will be able to see how they look in the recommended garments. Also, multiple people will be able shop simultaneously, just the way they shop in the real world. Each one will be able to see the garments being tried out by their friends, in real time, and be able to provide suggestions and comments. Also, we will be extending our product offerings to accessories, shoes and cosmetics, in addition to launching women's apparel.

A number of other companies have launched their own 3D trial rooms. How do you plan to tackle the competition? What is it that sets your product apart from your competitors' products?

Competitor's solution is a stick-on solution. To be more specific, our competitor's stick the image of the garment on the image of the consumers. Typically, these solutions are referred to as magic mirror solutions. These solutions do not solve the primary problem of the consumer-"Does the garment fit me? If so, how do I look in those garments?" Trupik's fundamental approach to the problem is different. We recreate the consumer's body in all three dimensions, which allows us to drape the garment, and be able to show consumers how they look.

Are you working on any other technical/mobile solutions to enhance the shopping experience?

Fundamentally, Trupik understands not only what the consumer is buying or when he/she is buying, but our technology also understands why a particular consumer makes a certain choice. We understand the reasons for your shopping behaviour based on your body information. This will enable us to help consumers more effectively by providing appropriate fashion recommendations based on his/her true fashion needs, rather than promote products based on price point or popularity. This will enable us to create automated personalised fashion advisors for each and every consumer and bring the best of the fashion products to suit their individual needs.

Are there any costs involved in the implementation of this software?

This software is completely free of cost to consumers.

Is there anything else that you would like us to know about your product, kiosks or future projects?

Trupik is a promise to the world is that "If there is any fashion product that consumers want to try, they can use our technology to make informed choices, not because of the price point or brand value or access to products, but simply because we enable consumers to conveniently visualise themselves with their selected products on their bodies to make a choice to buy with freedom" to satisfy their true fashion needs.
Published on: 24/10/2016

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.

Other Interviews

Kimberly Morgan and Rik Veltman
Chief Commercial Officer & Fashion Technology Evangelist
K3 Business Technology Group PLC
 
Mauro Dallavalle
Sr. Marketing Manager Fibers Global, Color & Additives
Avient Corporation
 
Vinod Kumar
Managing Director-India, SL and Middle East & Global Business Director (OEKO-TEX ORGANIC COTTON)
Hohenstein Laboratories