In talks with Garmentology founder

As if to prove that online retail really can offer all the benefits of the high street, Garmentology is a novel idea, an online personalized shopping service. This new tool allows online fashion retailers to create personal shop windows for each

user, allowing each shopper to see the clothes that best suit them based on body shape and colouring. FashionUnited caught up with founder, Suzanne Newman to hear about how the innovative idea came together and her business model.

FashionUnited: Talk me through how you came up with the idea of Garmentology.
As a professional image consultant, I know how much ‘getting it right’ can make a difference to people – I wanted to make this knowledge available to everyone, whilst also being commercially viable for me.

FU:

What are the core elements to the service then?
From the user's point of view, we take them through an online consultation(actually there are two - a full length consultation for people who want to learn about their bodies as they go, and a quickie for those who just want to go shopping). Then you can shop the pieces - we guide you to which garments would best suit you as a time saver and confidence booster. It's like having your own personal shopper with you - 24/7. Behind the scenes is our technology - based on a process we call 20/20 fashion. That's because we capture about 20 details about each user during the consultation, and we capture about 20 details for each garment. Our technology matches the garments to the user, creating a 'suitability rating' for each garment.

FU: Is it a free service or is it subscription based?
The service is completely free to the end user. It will continue to be as we embed our technology in retailers' own websites - so you can shop their entire range and treat yourself to Garmentology without leaving the
retailer's site.

FU: You recommend a series of retailers – Boden, Reiss, LK Bennett – how have you chosen specifically?
We wanted to cover a wide range of retailers and price ranges – it seems to suit the ‘mix and match’ way women are dressing these days!

FU: And talk me through how sales wise it works between the fashion brand ‘partners’ and you as an online service.
What you see on the Garmentology web site is our technology embedded into our own web site. The section called Shopping Central, where you see our selection of over 1,500 garments from around 16 stores now, works on the standard affiliate model. As we get embedded into retailers' own web sites then we'll operate with them on a service model where we make our money by charging for the service. That is a fixed monthly fee we work out with the retailer, which covers everything we do so all they have to do is plug our service into their web site.

FU: What do you think you offer that other personal shopping services don’t?
We treat everyone as a unique individual. Professional image consultants and personal shoppers don't lump people into categories and call them an apple, a pear or whatever, and nor do we. Every profile is unique. Also, because we generate ratings for every garment, we're not forced into all-or-nothing decisions. A five star garment may suit you better than a four star garment, but the four star garment may suit your budget better. By showing ratings on a scale, users can make more informed decisions. And, while we want you to use our website, we also aim for Garmentology to be embedded into retailer's own sites. We've carefully designed our service to make this possible for everyone.

FU: How do you intend to turn the current fast fashion high street boom to your advantage?
Looking at buying patterns, which have changed during recession led times. People want more for their money. Multi purposing is important – the garments that we recommend can typically be worn in different combos and for different occasions.

FU: How do you see the future of retail?
The future is about people power. More and more women are finding out what looks good on them and feeling less constrained by received wisdoms about brands and trends. And they are buying across price ranges. Technology is enabling this – but it’s important to see technology as a means to an end. Ultimately it’s about putting the customer in control.