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Why is this link so vital? Consider how "traditional" shopping and online shopping are currently understood. Shoppers in physical stores can't bring the contents of their living room, refrigerator, or clothing closet with them—as a result, they have to remember exactly what they've already purchased in order to avoid buying duplicates or products that don't match. Online shoppers face a different problem: they're physically disconnected, and can't see and feel the actual goods they're buying.
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But imagine if you could seamlessly blend the virtual and the physical worlds. Technologies such as inexpensive smart tags, continuous Internet connectivity, powerful embedded computers, and a variety of environmental sensors are emerging to help connect these two worlds, creating a new infrastructure for the delivery services through everyday products. With these embedded services, consumers could then have a richer shopping experience, and longer-term relationships with businesses.
The Online Wardrobe, a prototype developed by technology researchers at Accenture, showcases a new technology-enabled channel through which consumers and businesses can interact with each other. The Online Wardrobe uses sensors, tagging and tracking technologies to keep track of the clothing you already own, and helps you buy coordinating items, either online or in physical stores. With the Online Wardrobe, consumers can selectively reveal the contents of their wardrobe to their favorite merchants. In return, they receive personalized offerings and timely reminders about products of interest. And since the wardrobe is in the consumer's home, businesses can more easily deliver products and services to where their customers live, rather than having to lure them to their stores or Web sites to make a sale.
How does this work in practice? At home, the Online Wardrobe recognizes your new purchases through sensors and tags; and provides you with a list of matching items, as well as suggestions for other clothing you might want to purchase online or from a local store. If you want to buy a dress shirt, just pull out a pair of pants and a jacket with which you would wear the new shirt. The wardrobe uses the selected pants and jacket as the constraints to search online stores, returning a list of shirts that match best. When you're getting ready for the day, your wardrobe can look up what's on your schedule, and suggest appropriate attire to wear.
At the mall, just swipe your smart card at a clothing retailer's kiosk, and you'll have instant access to your virtual wardrobe. The retailer can now assist you more effectively, by considering your entire wardrobe and offering suggestions for complete, matching outfits. If you like a particular product but don't want to buy right there, you can always put it on to your wishlist, which you can revisit later, either from home or even another store.
By connecting the physical and virtual worlds in this way, the Online Wardrobe offers many interesting features:
- My Wardrobe: an exact record of what you have in your physical wardrobe. Browse My Wardrobe to find out when and where you purchased a product, and how much you paid for it. Or, view products from the current marketplace that are similar to what you already have. When you take out a product from the wardrobe, or put in a new one, My Wardrobe is updated instantly to reflect the current state of your physical wardrobe. You can take your wardrobe with you wherever you go shopping.