Neatsy AI, solving online shoe mismatch with a mobile phone
Startup Neatsy.ai has entered the footwear market as a new technological player that wishes to solve the problem of online fit mismatch. Currently, Neatsy Ai is the first company in the world that has made accurate 3D foot scan where only an iPhone is needed. This mobile app guides the user through a step-by-step process that helps him/her retrieve sneaker recommendations based on the size and shape of their feet.
How does it work? The first step consists of installing the app and filling out a minute survey about the user’s preferences. Then, the person uses its iPhone’s selfie camera as a scanner in order to create a full 3D map of his/her feet. The 3D scan works only on FaceID enabled iPhone (from iPhone X to newer models). The app makes size & fit suggestions based only on using the questionnaire for iPhone 7, 8, SE for now. The Android version is planned for next year.
Then, the person uses its iPhone’s selfie camera as a scanner in order to create a full 3D map of his/her feet. Later, through AI machine learning techniques, the app helps predict which size fits best and provides a catalog with major sneaker brands, such as Puma, Nike, Jordan Air and Adidas. Finally, the user gets accurate measurements and personalized recommendations on the best shoes, so that the chances of returning fall dramatically. Once the user makes the selection, the app directs to the online store to finish the purchase and wait for the perfect fit sneakers to arrive.
Online buyers have proved to be very cautious when buying shoes online because of the high probability of fit mismatch. According to Nike, three out of five people are likely to be wearing the wrong size shoe. The fit mismatch problem led to 50% returns to all online footwear orders. According to estimations made by Neatsy.ai, US$30 billion is lost each year due to logistics costs, destruction of boxes, missing sneakers, and other factors. E-commerce giants are losing fortunes because of easier return policies to convince people to buy online. The Covid-19 crisis has only toughened the problem.
The Neatsy engineering team was developing a scanning and matching algorithm for a year. It has been tested in pilots with Puma and Europe’s Inventive retail group. The pilot shows that with the Neatsy algorithm the retailer is able to reduce the return of sneakers due to size and fitting reasons by 2.7 times. Neatsy is planning further partnerships with sneaker brands and retailers to improve accuracy in recommendations and develop through the marketplace model.
“Imagine you’re at the mall, trying a bunch of sneakers, and you finally find a pair that fits perfectly. Now imagine doing all that in five minutes, from your couch, on your phone,” said Artem Semyanov, Neatsy.ai CEO. “Our team strongly believes that body scanning is a powerful and promising technology that must keep developing to simplify people´s life. Neatsy.ai works through combined computer vision, AR scanning and machine learning techniques that ensure smooth and simple choices for the best-fit sneakers. We’ve already proven that our tech reduces fit & size-related returns, which in turn increase shop revenue up to +50%. We hope this will benefit both the companies and users, equally.”
About Neatsy.ai: Ai-powered sneaker platform, founded in 2019 by Prisma’s former engineering team; a world-famous style transfer app. Neatsy CEO Artem Semyanov is a former Chief of R&D and ML at Prisma. The team was backed with US$400K pre-seed funding from angel investors. The new mobile app Neatsy – AI sneaker fit finder is currently available for iPhone users in the United States, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Canada and Russia. The company owns an American patent for tech that allows users to make a 3D scanning process with the use of their mobile phones, which helps to measure the user’s feet and get shoe recommendations. The user will find a great variety of sneakers with sizes aimed at both, youngsters and millennials with American Sizes 3.5-14.
Website> www.Neatsy.ai
