1.5. INTERVIEW #1 26

Emily Freund: Anything else you'd like to add on this topic? In relation to purchase intention, Virtual Try-on technology, e-commerce, luxury e-commerce...? Akanksha Goyal: I think virtual shopping and trying on should take a very sustainable route and try to push a greener initiative where people are not mass consuming. It could be targeted towards people who are doing these big hauls or buying just for Instagram. And that could reduce mass consumption. Also, it could make luxury a little more accessible to people who don't have it. Perhaps, you cannot afford a real Fendi baguette, but you can afford a virtual try-on where you can post the picture. So, it can make it more accessible to a wider audience, and you can launch more designs which are only online exclusive that way. So again, you're reaching out to a bigger target audience, the companies are making a profit and you're not destroying the earth.

Emily Freund: Thank you so much for your time.

Information and Consent Form for Interview Participants

Title of the report:

Interviewee name and contact details: Hosting Institution:

The Influence of Virtual Try-On Technology on Luxury Consumer Purchase Intention Sameer Faruquee s.faruquee0120191@arts.ac.uk University of the Arts – London College of Fashion

Background and Rationale

My Researching Consumer Behaviour report discusses Virtual Try-On technology and its effect on luxury consumer’s purchasing decision through perceived entertainment, information richness, and perceived product risk. The interviewees will be asked to download the DressX application, experience and try on the virtual items, and give their opinions on this technology.

Aim of this research

As a luxury consumer, this interviewee will give me primary insight into consumer perceptions towards purchasing luxury online and their experience with the augmented reality VTO technology.

FAQ

How much time will be involved?

Approximately 20-30 minutes

How will the data and information collected be used?

I will use it in my research report as primary research into the mind of a luxury consumer.

Will the outcomes of the research be published?

They will informally be published to TurnItIn

Will my name or the name of my company appear in the research report?

Yes

Consent

“I have read the Information Sheet and have had the details of the study explained to me. My questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I understand that I may ask further questions at any time. I understand I have the right to withdraw from the study at any time and to decline to answer any particular questions. I agree to provide information to the researcher on the understanding that my name will not be used without my permission. (The information will be used only for this research and publications arising from this research project.)

I agree/do not agree to the interview being taped. My name can be mentioned in this research study The name of the organisation I work for can be mentioned in this research study

I understand that I have the right to ask for the audio/video tape to be turned off at any time during the interview. I agree to participate in this study under the conditions set out in the Information Sheet.

Name: Sameer Faruquee Agree Not Agree

Signed:

Date:

Emily Freund: What is your name, age, and occupation? Sameer Faruquee: I'm Sameer Faruquee, 21, and a student

Emily Freund: How often do you shop or view items from luxury brands? Sameer Faruquee: Say maybe four to five times a month

Emily Freund: When was the last time you bought from a luxury brand? Sameer Faruquee: two days ago

Emily Freund: What did you buy? Sameer Faruquee: I bought this top like a turtleneck top

Emily Freund: Was it online or in store? Sameer Faruquee: It was online

Emily Freund: What made that experience enjoyable for you? Sameer Faruquee: The website overall was nice, but also it was on sale. So that was great. I think the whole process of being able to buy quickly, I paid through Apple Pay so that was fun. And tracking was easy too.

Emily Freund: What part of the experience made it informative about the product or the brand? Sameer Faruquee: For the most part on that website, it was mainly just the description, like the product description, and pictures that were on the model, but other than that there wasn't much there.

Emily Freund: What kinds of AR technology are you aware of? Sameer Faruquee: A few years ago, Xbox did something with a bunch of AR stuff on the table. I think playing Pokémon Go is AR too. Apple does some stuff as well with the new WWDC. But other than that, maybe Snapchat do, like Snapchat filters. But other than that, I think that's pretty much it.

Emily Freund: Do you know of any AR technology within the fashion industry? Sameer Faruquee: Not really, I think Louis Vuitton did some stuff with Virgil towards the end. But I think other than that, no.

Emily Freund: What is your preferred shopping outlet; online, offline, both? Sameer Faruquee: Online. Emily Freund: Why? Sameer Faruquee: Online, it's just easier to me. I'm not lazy per se, but it's just quicker to go online and type things up. Instead of going from store to store, take you probably five minutes to get from each store. Also, I generally don't like talking to people in store that much, I like looking at and I hate being asked, 'How can we help you.' I like the independence of being online, it's more fun that way, rather than being handheld throughout the whole experience. I also like it because it's safer these days, you don't have to risk wearing a mask or not wearing a mask or anything like that. You can sit at home, do what you like, listen to music, food, do whatever you want.

Emily Freund: What do you think would make your online shopping experience more enjoyable? Sameer Faruquee: Overall, smooth experiences, less friction, in terms of the whole process of finding an item, putting in your basket, getting information about the item and then paying for it. A lot of the times you have go through these weird processes. I like stuff, we can just add it to the basket and Apple Pay and get out, get it done. But maybe more ways to interact with the clothes, I think just seeing on a model doesn't really do anything. There's no real precise sizing in the model. The model can be five foot two, but I don't know how long your arms, I don't know how wide your chest is, it doesn't do anything for me. So being able to see your clothes move, as well. Movement is incredibly important. You don't know how something is going to move on you. So being able to get all of that will be valuable.

Emily Freund: How often do you shop online? Sameer Faruquee: Include or excluding include fashion space, everything in general? Probably three to four times, four or five times a month.

Emily Freund: And are you just browsing or you're actually purchasing? Sameer Faruquee: Yeah, I'm actually purchasing.

Emily Freund: And what do you think is the reason that you will shop four to five times a month, fashion wise? Sameer Faruquee: I don't just shop myself, sometimes I buy gifts for birthdays, just general presents, but also a lot of times things go on sale, you have reminders and stuff. So, if something goes on sale, I'm more inclined to buy it because that's exactly what I've been looking for and I'm more than happy to wait for it. Things come on sale, and I buy it or something new comes out that I've been waiting for and I'm just going to purchase anyways.

Emily Freund: Okay, I've asked you to download the DressX application, could you open that and while you're using it try on something and walk me through what you're going through. Sameer Faruquee: Okay, so I'm going to use this Christmas Bucket Hat. Okay, so I hit try AR, the camera screen popped up, flipping it back onto my face. So now I'm just positioning the phone eye level towards my face, so I can get a full view of my head. Now, I'm looking left and right just to see how it would fit around my head. Of course, sizing probably won't be the same but I think it's a good idea to sort of see yourself and see the dimensions on your head. So, that's what I'm doing, I'm checking the dimensions, make sure proportions are right. I like the color on my skin, I like the details and the features because you can get the fur on this, you can see the fur quite well. So, overall is looking at the product in relation to my face or my head and just seeing if it if it goes well.

Emily Freund: If you click the 'Buy' tab you will get a little bit of information about the product, what do you think about that? Tell me what you're going through Sameer Faruquee: I think it's good, it has the material, the color. There's a typo in the color but that's fine. It's weird, you can change the description yourself. I don't know if that changes the whole app, but you can type in and change the description. I guess probably why there's a there's a typo but no, it's good. I like the description, it gives an example of where you could wear it, it says 'Whether you're going together with your family friends, blah blah blah,' that's good.

Emily Freund: Okay, thank you. How did you feel while using the try-on technology? Sameer Faruquee: I thought it was fun. It caught onto my head really well and quickly, there wasn't any wait time, was instantaneous, that was good. To track my head very well, my head movements in the phone movement. See, that's what I was mentioning earlier, in terms of the frictionless aspect, as there was no stuttering. Maybe it also has to do with the fact that I have a decent phone and decent internet connection. But overall, I think it was fun definitely experiential in the sense that this is a way that if in the future, if you wanted to buy stuff, I think is definitely a viable way.

Emily Freund: What are some pros and cons of using this virtual Try-on technology? Sameer Faruquee: I think the pros are the fact that this is fun, you get to enjoy and have a good time. Let's say if you're in both for business and for the customer if you get to enjoy a product, you're more likely to buy, and you associate good memories with it. So, I think that's always a positive. And if you're a business, then you want your customers to associate positivity with your items. So that's always a plus. Also, you can share it, that's always fun. [DressX] has these weird little helmets, I could try on a helmet and show my friends, which is fun. I think the cons are that it may be misleading in terms of sizing, the sizing may be off and you buy something or the coloring you buy and then it turns out to be completely wrong. And that can be quite upsetting, especially if you've spent hundreds of pounds on it. If you've got a bad internet connection or a bad phone, it's going to be a struggle for you. Other than that, I don't really see any cons because you're not paying for anything and you're not really spending any valuable time, it was 1020 seconds. So, I'd say there's very little cons

Emily Freund: And which of these either the pros or cons is most important in your purchasing decision of a product? Sameer Faruquee: I would say the whole trying on aspects, like seeing how it looks from the pros, that's probably the most important. At the end of the day, if you're going to go online, you're removing the sensory feeling of touch. And after touch comes size and fitting and that's what clothes are: how they fit and how they look on you, so you have to have an idea of how it looks. Your imagination can only go so far without having the ability to try it on in person. So, I'll say, the ability to see on yourself and try on. That's the most important one.

Emily Freund: And did you learn anything about the product or the brand? Sameer Faruquee: In terms of the product, I learned, the description, the materials, and how it looks and how it could look on me. But other than that, I didn't really learn much, per se. I think there's only so much you can learn about a product anyways, that's nothing to do with technology. A product description's a product description, it only goes so far unless you start introducing opinion pieces, which is quite unusual for fashion in general.

Emily Freund: What ways do you think the virtual Try-on technology was informative? Sameer Faruquee: Well, firstly, size: that's informative. In terms of understanding a product that's incredibly important. There wasn't much about the brand per se. However, it was still interesting to see the perspectives of the brand saying, 'You can wear it like this'. Because it says you can wear it at a Christmas party. So, the brand is telling you a way not the only way, but a way that they will prescribe you to wear it, which is interesting. I think just in general, being a brand on this platform is showing that they're technology forward so it's a positive, considering that's where I think we're going in the future is that we're going towards this kind of technology. And it's better that brands adapt now than later. So that says to me that the brand is future thinking and that's always a positive for me.

Emily Freund: What did you like about your experience, and why? Sameer Faruquee: I like the aspect of having fun and trying on, even if you're not going to buy. That's one thing that you do struggle with in person, especially if it's a really expensive brand. And you don't feel comfortable trying stuff on because of any stigma, you can try on without any guilt, shame, without being fearful of judgment, or even to break it. You can just wear whatever you want, however you want to, even like a dress or something like that you can shop on anything you want. So, I think why I enjoy it the most is the freedom to pick whatever you like, do it however you like, and the independence and control that it gives you. I think that's the best part.

Emily Freund: And despite the sizing, what did you dislike about your experience? And why? Sameer Faruquee: There's very little to dislike considering it's free, they're not asking you to pay there's no paywall, you can try on anything and everything. The con could be that there's no search function, as far as I'm aware. So, you couldn't actually, look for let's say, I wanted to Bottega Veneta jacket, a specific one, I couldn't look for that specific jacket and find it. There's a small, prescribed list of what's new, what's feature today. And while that's good, and it's fun, it's not what I want per se, it's not recommended to me or tailored to me or my likes, especially considering I don't wear dresses or head pieces or anything like that. So, it's good in a sense, but not as useful as it could be without being tailored to me and my likings

Emily Freund: How accurate do you think the VTO technology was in depicting the item? Sameer Faruquee: Considering we don't have a reference, for instance, a t shirt or the hat, I can't say this is a oneto-one accurate description. However, I would say it looks pretty accurate. Going back to that bucket hat, the detail in the fur was really good. And that's usually something that's quite difficult anyways. Of course, there's going to be some issues, for instance, the mistletoe on the hat, or the print may look more shiny or more matte in person. But that's all negligible to a certain degree because you have to understand that it's not going to be a one-to-one comparison, regardless, unless 20 years down the line we get there. But I think other than that there's very few cons

Emily Freund: and what factors influence your decision to purchase luxury online? Sameer Faruquee: I'd say number one is price, unless you have an unlimited budget, which I don't, price is always going to be the number one factor. So, for instance, the turtleneck that I've bought recently from Machine-A, went on sale from 225 to 90. And I thought, that's the perfect time for me to buy it, it's more than half price down and why not, so price is number one. Second, is the brand itself, depending on who you're buying from. I'm less inclined to buy a brand that I'm not too aware of. Just because the price isn't an indication of quality, or timelessness or, even if I would like it, once I get it in person I might change the color might be different, etc. So, style was number two, I'd say. And number three, probably the least likely, though, could be the actual website itself. Yes, I expect a good website but it's not going to deter me too much if the product I want, I want it that badly. For instance, like a pair of sunglasses, if I really want a pair of sunglasses, I'm willing to forego a bad online experience just to get to the end process of getting those sunglasses. However, I would much prefer a good website that's clean, easy to use, has good payment options, good tracking and shipping and can just get you in and out quickly.

Emily Freund: You mentioned Machine-A, are you aware of their AR and VR innovations that they've done with Institute of Digital Fashion? Sameer Faruquee: I am not.

Emily Freund: You should definitely check it out. It's super cool. Would you purchase the items you viewed today? Sameer Faruquee: Yes, some not every item because not to do the technology part, but to do with the fact that I don't like the item in general. For instance, this pair of sunglasses I saw I'd be willing to try them on and buy them. A few head pieces I would try and probably buy if I liked it that much. But yes, overall, I would be I would be willing.