专家：技术可以帮助服装零售商变得更加可持续

After each season, clothing retailers offer deep discounts to lure in consumers to buy leftover, unsold products. But what if they could do a better job predicting what consumers will want, in what size and in the right quantity to increase profits, and reduce textile waste?

In arecent article,Byoungho Ellie Jin，阿尔伯特·迈尔斯（Albert Myers）杰出的北卡罗来纳州纺织经济学和管理教授探讨了人工智能（AI），虚拟现实（VR）和3D打印等技术在解决过度供应等行业问题方面的作用。她建议技术可以帮助该行业变得更加可持续，提供更多个性化的商品并提高生产力。

摘要: What technologies define the fourth industrial revolution?

Byoungho Ellie Jin：在第四次工业革命中发生了多种技术进步，包括增强现实，VR，大数据，AI和机器人技术。我非常好奇这些技术如何影响服装和零售业。我发现他们将通过三个主题帮助该行业：个性化，可持续性和生产力。

TA: How are new technologies addressing unmatched demand in fashion?

斤: Demand is so unpredictable in the fashion industry. We don’t know who will buy what, in what size, in what color and in what material. The biggest variable in the fashion industry is size. Even if you like the style and color, if it doesn’t fit, you don’t buy it. Apparel companies have to try to predict all of that.

这意味着每个季节之后都有大量剩菜产品，并且有大量的降价可以摆脱所有制作。这对行业意味着巨大的损失。如果他们能预见需求更好，该行业可能会变得更加有利可图。

现在，通过AI分析，我们可以实时做出预测。我们可以分析消费者将购买的东西以及他们想要的尺寸。AI可以预料和分析它，并基于这些信息，我们可以开发消费者想要购买的尺寸，长度，颜色和样式。

TA：您还谈论AI还将如何帮助实现该行业的目标之一 - 个性化服装。为什么个性化对行业很重要？

斤: People are tired of choosing what has already been produced for the mass market. We want something that was created to suit our own personal needs.

Before the industrial revolution, moms would often make clothes for their children. They knew their children’s sizes, colors they like, designs they like. Through the second and third industrial revolutions, there is mass production. There are more products, but they are limited. Our tastes, real preferences and real needs are not satisfied.

Now, personalization is possible. Through AI analyses, retailers know all our purchases. They know what I need.

3D printing and 3D knitting are also good for personalization. They can increase productivity, and create the opportunity for printing on demand. They could also potentially help with environmental sustainability as well.

TA: How can these technologies make the industry more environmentally sustainable? You write about how the textile industry is a major environmental polluter.

斤：每年，该行业都会生产大量剩余产品。在70％的降价之后，未售出的产品去了哪里？我们捐赠了它们，然后未售出的物品批量运送给发展中国家。其中很多结束于垃圾填埋场。棉花和丝绸，那些天然纤维将生物降解。但是聚酯和尼龙，它们永远在那里。这是一个巨大的环境问题。

If we produce the right amount with accurate demand forecasting, we can reduce environmental pollution. AI could be important to accurate foresting. Also, 3D printing and knitting leads to less production waste, with less fabric left over in the production stage.

TA: How are retailers using virtual and augmented reality technologies?

斤: Experiential retail is a keyword in the industry right now. A store is not just a place to buy something. We can buy something anytime. People want to have an experience. If we apply/utilize VR or AR technologies in the store, people perceive that as a fun experience. Some retailers are testing it out, but it’s not heavily utilized right now.

In arecent studywe did at NC State, we compared consumers’ experience of browsing a website to their experience using VR goggles to look through a boutique in downtown Raleigh. We rented a camera and used it to take a video of the store.

Large retailers have tons and tons of stores across the country. They have nice websites. It’s harder for a small boutique to increase store awareness. To help them, we asked: Why don’t they utilize VR, and put that on their websites so people can experience the store virtually? Consumers might be more interested in their products and store, and more likely to visit. We thought we can help them promote their store and increase awareness.

The results of our experiment showed that with VR, consumers who experienced the 360-degree videos of the store reported positive emotions, and increased perceptions of the store’s attractiveness. Their pleasure increased.

最初，我们认为我们应该把那些护目镜掌握在消费者手中，以查看商店环境。但是现在，您还可以下载一个应用程序。即使没有戴护目镜，您也会觉得自己喜欢在商店里。这意味着，如果没有消费者方面的投资，那仍然是可能的。