Increase Your E-commerce Profits using Virtual Samples! —Techniques for Reducing Costs and Forecasting Demand

In our six-part series on promoting digital transformation in the fashion industry, we've reached the final installment: exploring innovative sales models to boost e-commerce profitability. With virtual samples, brands can reduce photographic expenses and realize demand forecasting. This article delves into techniques that can elevate your e-commerce operations.

The Advantages of Utilizing Virtual Samples in E-Commerce

Managing an e-commerce platform often entails producing extensive product photography for each item, which can be both time-consuming and costly. Implementing virtual sampling allows for the effortless creation of color and pattern variations of a single design directly on-screen, eliminating the need to produce and photograph every actual product.

This approach not only reduces photography time and sample production costs but also streamlines the image editing process, enabling faster image creation.

Moreover, virtual samples can be showcased on your e-commerce site even before the physical products are manufactured, facilitating pre-orders. This strategy enables you to gauge demand prior to production, thereby minimizing overproduction and waste, and preventing stockouts of popular items.

So, how can you create virtual samples effectively? Let's explore the process using the SDS^®-ONE APEX series design software, highlighting real-world applications.

For more details, please download the following material. 

Capabilities of the SDS^®-ONE APEX Series Design Software

Mapping Fabric onto the Product Image

Let's take a simple T-shirt as an example to see the process of draping fabric onto a product image. Start by selecting the areas of the image where you want to apply the new fabric.

Using a specialized tool, divide this area into separate layers, segmenting parts where the directions of fabric changes to ensure a natural appearance upon composition. For instance, in the case of the T-shirt, you might separate it into four parts: the body, both sleeves, and the collar.

Next, create a mesh—a grid that represents the grain lines of fabric over the designated areas.

This mesh allows the fabric to conform naturally to the product's shape. Once the mesh is created, you can easily swap in different fabrics to produce various design options. Create mesh for the sleeves as well.

For simple items like a T-shirt, this process can be completed in under 30 minutes, making it highly efficient. The resulting images retain the item's natural shadows and wrinkles, ensuring a realistic and appealing presentation.

Creating Color Variations

Design software equipped with specialized tools enables quick development of color variations. Consider a hoodie that includes four colors: the outer fabric, lining, zipper, and accessories. Start by grouping these elements by color. Simply drag the cursor over each part to register its color, facilitating swift grouping.

Apparel Manufacturer – Demand Forecasting Through Pre-Orders

Shoe Manufacturer – Real-Time Custom Order Previews

A custom order initiative allows customers to choose components such as upper color, inner color, and heel style, offering over 100 combinations. To increase purchase rates, they built a system where customers could preview selected combinations online. Instead of creating and photographing 100 physical products, they used virtual sampling.

Curtain Manufacturer – Simplifying Complex Interior Photography

Umbrella Manufacturer – Consistent Product Pages with Virtual Samples

Even small items like umbrellas can benefit from virtual sampling. Umbrella materials often require corrections for reflections and glare. The mapping feature of the software streamlines these adjustments, creating product variations based on a corrected model. Photos taken individually often vary in angles and sizes, but mapping ensures uniformity, resulting in cohesive and polished product pages.

Boost E-commerce Profit Margins with Virtual Samples!

In this article, we’ve highlighted the benefits of using virtual samples to save time and cut sample production costs. Let’s recap the key points to help you implement these strategies and enhance your e-commerce profitability.

Point1 : Reduce Shooting Time

By using the SDS^®-ONE APEX series design software to create color and pattern variations, you can significantly decrease the number of product shots needed.

Point2 : Lower Sample Costs

Fewer photoshoots mean less time and cost spent on creating physical samples.

Point3 : Faster Image Preparation

With the specialized tools of the SDS^®-ONE APEX series, you can quickly create images to develop a range of variations.

Point4 : Forecast Demand with Pre-orders

Using virtual sample images to hold pre-order events, latent demand for items can be gauged before manufacturing begins, enabling production volume to be adjusted accordingly. This approach is especially effective for custom order businesses.

With the growing focus on SDGs, the issue of surplus inventory in the apparel industry is increasingly coming under scrutiny. In the future, production trends are likely to shift toward small-lot, highly customizable products, making digital tools like these even more indispensable.

For more insights into e-commerce strategies, check out this related article:

About the SDS^®-ONE APEX Series

APEXFiz^®, the Subscription Service From the SDS^®-ONE APEX Series

Comprehensive Guide to Digitalization in the Fashion Industry! "Overview of Six-Part Series"