New York - The global artificial intelligence (AI) in fashion market accounted for 270 million dollars in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 36.9 percent over the forecast period 2019-2027, to account for 4,391.7 million dollars in 2027.

A recent report (‘Artificial Intelligence In Fashion Market to 2027 - Global Analysis and Forecasts by Offerings; Deployment; Application; End-User Industry’) published in October 2019 by Insights Partners, warns that, despite the increasing interest in the industry to adapt and apply cognitive science, concerns related to data privacy and security is anticipated to hinder the market growth in the coming years.

Real-time consumer behaviour insights propel the adoption of applied AI in fashion

On the upside, driving factors for this unstoppable growth are the availability of massive amount of data due to increasing proliferation of digital services across the globe, and real time consumer behaviour insights and augmented operational efficiency are driving the adoption of AI in fashion industry, having both a significant impact both in the short and medium term.

AI integration in fashion plays a crucial role in sales, marketing, and customer-focused purposes. Initial adopters surveyed in this report point toward the key impacts of technology in improving customer experience and decent growth in company revenue.

Virtual assistants and product recommendation are going mainstream

As a matter of fact, they all agree that an elevated customer experience helps the retailer to crack entirely new tactics of customer engagement and communication. With AI integration, the retailers can precisely spot the customers’ expected needs at precise times and offer the appropriate product to gain a competitive advantage, highlights the report.

In terms of dominant AI applications, the cloud segment led the artificial intelligence in fashion market and it is anticipated to continue its dominance during the forecast period. The market for artificial intelligence in fashion by application is further segmented into product recommendation, virtual assistant, product search and discovery, creative designing and trend forecasting, customer relationship management, and others. Product recommendation was also a leading area of focus for many players in the industry, and it’s expected to remain so during the forecast period.

North Face and eBay amongst pioneering fashion brands exploring applied AI

Some of the past initiatives taken in the fashion industry sector which has revolutionize the use of AI in the sector are North Face leveraging IBM Watson’s ML technology to recommend more personalised apparel to the customers.

Meanwhile, eBay’s AI integration helps their sellers sell more by better inventory management and pricing recommendations.

Also, several fashion brands are leveraging chatbot to improve the customer experience; Tommy Hilfiger’s Facebook Messenger chatbot offers consumers a custom-made and interactive shopping experience than customary online shopping. Besides, Sephora, Amazon, Target, ASOS, Stitch Fix, and Olay are other renowned fashion industry names in the list who have already integrated the AI solution to boost their sales and marketing strategy.

Image: North Face + IBM Watson on Cognitive Retail, Netlive it AG