3D – Scanning for a

Better Fit
Team 5
Siddhartha Banga
Alex Barcellini
Jonathan Gabay
Kartik Krishnan
Gaurav Singh
Executive Summary
Suitsupply has been regarded as the leading retailer of off-the-rack suits for customers on
a budget. The market is getting competitive with Canadian brands Indochino and Surmesur
gaining traction with the customers here in Canada and beyond.

Our proposal to gain a competitive edge

Suitsupply should adopt 3D-digital fit technology offered by Passen. It is a noncontact
technology that captures the shape of a human body using a line of laser lights or a camera.
When an individual stands within reach of the scanner, the scanner captures the person’s
body shape in a 3D digital model within seconds. The scanner generates the model by
digitizing the surface of the individual, and the model is then stored in the database.

Benefits
 Reduce the number of in-store tailors to one
 Reduce cost of logistics for returns
 Improve accuracy of measurements and reduce alteration cost
 Once 3D scanned, customers can place future orders online from the comfort of their
home

Risks
 Network congestion and collapse may lead to unavailability
 Customer data stored in central server. Centralized databases are highly dependent
on network connectivity. Bottlenecks can occur as a result of high traffic.
 Data breach can lead to loss of customer trust and hence loss of business
 Lack of encryption can lead to unauthorized use and data loss
 Not future-proof considering the pace of technology growth. May become obsolete
soon.
 Maintenance costs for equipment and accompanying software can run high

Timeline
Pilot run in one location in one country. Phased implementation in one store in each of the
24 countries we have a brick and mortar store at and finally a full-fledged implementation
after troubleshooting any persisting systemic issues.
Introduction

Founded in the Netherlands in 2000 by Fokke de Jung, we now operate in 18 countries

with 72 bricks and mortar stores and in over 60 different countries through our online

platform. We currently offer Suits, Shirts, Black Tie garments, a complete line of casual

clothing, and accessories. In 2015, we launched our line of casual wear such as hoodies,

sweatpants, sweaters and just last year, we created a women's division called Suistudio.

Like our men's wear collection, the women's collection focuses primarily on the "power suit"

at affordable prices. While suits represent nearly 70 percent of the mix for women, the

stores also offer knitwear, dresses, jumpsuits, and eveningwear.

Today, more than 75 percent of our cumulative sales come from outside the

Netherlands and 30 percent are generated online. The potential for growth in the online

space is high and hence we need to concentrate our efforts on enhancing our customer

experience online through cutting edge technology. To this end, we recommend integrating

a virtual fit technology that will enable the customers to make their purchases online from

the comfort of their home.

Proposal
Suitsupply is a pioneer in everything it does. Our pioneering spirit generates

a contagious energy, which enables us to keep putting new ideas into practice. Our

strength lies in the formula: straight, to the point and still personal and that’s how

we become fast and effective.

With the core values and their history of being pioneers of their industry we

propose using the 3D-Digital fit technology by Passen in our stores. This technology

combined with augmented reality can make the experience of buying a custom suit

all the more interesting, reliable and comforting. When a customer walks in to get
a custom made suit, a tailor spends on an average around 15-20 mins taking down

all the measurements. Also, there is a style guide, who spends time to explain the

customer how a particular fabric will look on him and what accessories can go well

with that particular suit. Eventually the customer relies on his imagination and style

guides ability to convince the customer to finally make that purchase. There are

some cases when the customer may not get convinced and decides to leave the store

without any purchases at all. To counter this and to give the customer a disruptive

experience we suggest using a 3D body scanner with augmented reality to enhance

this entire experience. Instead of a tailor taking all the measurements we will have

the style guide use the portable 3D-Fit scanner, which can be attached to an IPad,

to scan the customers body and then show him how each and every fabric will look

upon and what options they have in terms of fit and customisation. This will go in

line with our philosophy of being fast and effective.

On implementing this technology, we aim to gradually eradicate the role of

an in-store tailor thus helping us to reduce the cost. The reduction in cost of stores

will help us to expand further and open more stores in more locations.

The portability of the device will be a key differentiator as we enter a new

market. We propose to set up small kiosks in Financial districts and other high

population areas or events. These kiosks will help us acquire new customers as

customers will just need to sign up and they get a free 3D model. Once the 3D model

is there in the customer’s account, the customer can go online and order a custom

made suit anytime they want. This will be in line with our current business strategy

of entering a new market with an E-commerce store first and then the physical store.
Suitsupply, is known in the fashion world to be more utilitarian and less of an iconic

fashion brand, bringing in a technology like this will help promote its utilitarian

brand value by reducing the time it takes to order a suit online as well as in store.

Also, with the 3D Fit technology we can improve the accuracy of the measurements

and reduce the alteration costs. All of this eventually leads to a higher customer

satisfaction and repeat purchases.

Competitive landscape
1.Indochino : Was established in the year 2007 in British Columbia. Through a commitment

to an experience-based Omni channel commerce strategy (allows men to order their made

to measure shirts and suits online, via mobile or in-person at Indochino showrooms) in the

past three years, INDOCHINO has expanded its retail network across North America to

include 22 showrooms as of March 2018 and with as many as 15 more showrooms to be added

by the year end.

2. Surmesur : Established in 2010 in Montreal, Surmesur is currently operating only in the

Canadian market. Surmesur offers an online shopping experience along with a range of retail

shopping formats to choose such as the Surmesur store, Surmesur Shop-in-shop, Surmesur

on the road and The studio wherein the customer has the opportunity to create and order a

made-to-measure products using their online creation software of the same

name.Customers have to visit a store to see a measurement specialist to get measured,

create their online profile, and then place future orders from the convenience of their

home.

3. Bespoke tailor shops

4. Fast-fashion departmental stores such as Zara, H&M etc. and also big box departmental

stores such Nordstrom, Hudson's Bay Company etc.

Market Dynamics

Considering the market SUITSUPPLY competes, the new technology will affect the

organization strategy and will help us to differentiate ourselves from the competition.

Passen’s measurement technology is aligned with the modern, high technology, and

innovative image SUITSUPPLY constantly boasts to the market. Once we consolidate this

feature as one of our main characteristics, it will act as a harder barrier for new entrants to

compete with us.

This new method of tailoring suits to perfectly fit customers is not only accurate but

also puts us in an advantage compared to our indirect competitors such as the Fast-Fashion

players and other bespoke tailor shops. Therefore, the threats from substitute products we

have today is likely to weaken considering that this breakthrough in tailor made suits domain

is incompatible with the business model of those big box department stores.

3D Fit feature can also be used for different products. Once the customer has setup

his profile with us, it can be used beyond tailoring suits. It can be used for shirts, coats, pants,

etc. thus increasing our product line and increasing the ROI on the same products. On

developing this technology further this feature will help us build a clothing ecosystem focused

on improving the customer experience by transforming the whole process into a pleasant,

hassle-free one. Thus, addressing the strong bargain force our clients hold because of all the

options we do expect that SUITSUPPLY will regain some strength.

 Return on Investment
By implementing 3D scanning technology, there are several considerations with regards to

how to assess the return on investment. Some of the criteria taken into consideration are:

Reduced number of visits to measure, reduce head count of in store tailors, reduced time it

takes for a fitting and increased accuracy of measurements. These areas of improvement, the

benefits are realized and quantifiable in the short term. There are several of other long term

benefits, namely, higher customer satisfaction that will likely be realized which would have

other impacts on the performance of the business. For this return on investments section, short

term benefits will be analyzed with focus on the reduction of the cost of in store tailors.

In speaking with Passen’s founder and CEO, the following information was gathered in terms of

the pricing of their technology, both from an upfront and on going perspective.

Break down of fees to install and run Passen’s equipment and service:

 Initial set up fee: $5,000-$30,000 – this covers: Initial training, setup, hardware and software

ready to use out of the box.

 Each additional iPad with fully loaded software and hardware is: $3,000-4,000.

 On going licensing fee: Based on tiers. 0-1,000 customers / fits - $30 per fitting. 1,000-5,000

customers $25 per fitting. 5000+ $20.

Suit Supply current numbers and assumptions

As of 2017, Suit Supply had 72 locations around the world. While analyzing different store

locations, it was determined that each store has between 1-3 tailors on site. For the return on

investment calculation, it is assumed that there is an average of 2 tailors at each location.

 In 2017 Suit Supply recorded revenue of US $322 Million (Weinswig, 2016). Note – Suit Supply is

a private company. 2018 Financials were not disclosed. 2017 revenue figures were found in a

published report.
 Without the benefit of detailed financial reports, it is difficult to determine the percentage of

sales that came from custom tailored suits. For the ROI calculation, it is assumed that 10% of

total revenues is derived from custom tailored suits, or $32 million.

 The suits range from a cost of $370-$1,115. Taking an average of these costs provides $742.

 Taking $32 million and dividing it by the average cost of a suit $742 provides total fittings of

43,126

Calculation summary

In 2018, Suit Supply had 72 stores. As mentioned earlier, for the ROI calculation, it

is assumed that on average there are 2 tailors per store. With Passen’s technology, the founder

claims that their system can take the same 20 measurements a tailor takes for suit

measurements, but do so in 20 seconds and is more precise. A regular fitting can take upwards

to an hour. It is noted that some of this time during the hour is for consultation on fabrics. With

the significant time saving potential of Passen’s 3D scanning technology, the need to have 2

tailors per store is reduced. With a fully function staff using Passen’s technology, could reduce

down to 1 tailor per store. It is under this scenario that the ROI calculation has been performed.

It is also noted that achieving a reduction of 1 tailor across every location globally would take

considerable time. By reducing the work force by 1 tailor per location would result in total cost

savings of $1,936,334 per year. The annual cost, based on current number of suit fittings, is

$943,666.

It is also important to note that a fully deployed Passen technology could potentially

have many more benefits than just the cost savings found by reducing the number of tailors.

The measurements being more accurate could reduce the need for suit alterations which is a

considerable cost for Suit Supply.

 Risk Analysis

Few risks associated with our project implementation are as follows:

 Technical Risks
 Financial risks
 Implementation risks

Technical Risks in this case can arise out of the following reasons:
 Hardware and technology related risks
 Software related risks
 Security related risks

Hardware related risks: Risks related to Hardware and technology can be System

constraints like ability to take maximum and minimum size measurements, not able to take low

light measurements etc. Few people may be able to use the new technology, if it is too complex.

Network congestion and collapse is a common problem faced by IT systems in organizations like

Suitsupply, which have offices in far off locations. Also, they face the risk of not getting the

required support from the IT support provider in future, which may hamper their operation.

Software related risks: Suitsupply employees will not be able to take proper measurements

if the software interface is not user friendly or if it is not responsive enough. Since all the data

will be going to a central server and there has to be a seamless transition between all the users,

so there has to be a standardization. There can also be issues related to compatibility of the

software between systems of various users. For eg: Tailor sitting in a remote location may not

be able to read the measurements taken by an employee in another showroom of Suitsupply. At

times, various users may not be able to operate in the same way on their respective systems if

the software is not mapped accordingly.

Security related risks: In the current scenario, Security related risks are very important.

Since we will have confidential data related to measurements of our customers, there is always

a chance of data theft and data leak. Weak security measures like lack of encryption can lead

to unauthorized use and even data loss or damage.

Financial Risks:

Biggest financial risk is the fact that this new project may not be able to produce the

required Return on Investment. There may be additional costs while implementations due to

various unprecedented reasons. Also there may be additional costs associated with the product

after the implementation, which may not be thought earlier. This may lead to additional

Operating cost of the newly implemented product.

Implementation risk:

It is human nature to resist the change, so inertia towards new technology is one of

the most common risk faced while implementation of almost every new technology. Clients who

are accustomed to give measurements to Style guides may not trust the new technology initially

and there may be initial teething issues due to lack of coordination and communication between

various users of this new technology. We will have to make sure that our IT vendor is able to

supply us the required equipment and systems as per our requirements or else it will be a

bottleneck for the complete implementation of this technology. One of the big risks which we

also face is that some better and cheap technology may be invented in near future or during our

implementation, which would make this technology obsolete.

To mitigate the aforementioned risks, we should do a water test of the services by

implementing this system in one showroom only and test run the system for few months. If the

test run is successful, only than we should go ahead with the company wide implementation of

this system.
Conclusion