Marketing Meets Clothing Body Scanners: An End to Vanity Sizing or a Sizing Revolution?

I could have sworn I was an eight. But no matter how I shimmy, squeeze or shake, these babies aren’t sliding on. A slight panicky moment flushes over me; did I magically become a ten in the last hour? I check the jeans I wore to the store and sigh. Nope. I am indeed an eight. Furrowing my brow, I compare the jeans I am wearing to the ones I am trying to buy. Both are eights, but these new ones look suspiciously smaller…

Sound familiar? It’s called vanity sizing. It’s when a store sizes a brand up or down to give its primary buyers a little ego boost. The idea is to make everyone feel better about their purchase. Of course, as the tale above tells, this is not always the case.

So what can we do? More importantly, how can we shop?

Enter technology.

Imagine a machine with a walk-in chamber. Like a carnival ride, you stand in a designated position, and the chamber is sealed shut. (Claustrophobia!) A motor churns, and a whirling sound initiates a scan. It rolls over your body. A quick beep notifies you when the device is done. The chamber opens. A receipt prints. Around 200,000 different measurements are recorded—telling you your perfect size in every available store.

As futuristic as it sounds, this machine exists. And the even stranger part? There’s more than one company producing it. Me-Ality™, My-Best-Fit™ and Bodymetrics are just a few. Each produces a device to find a perfect fit. All are geared towards ending what some may consider a size-ist problem.

But, what really hits the spot is how this will change the shopping world. From a marketing perspective, the ideas that could go along with this are endless: Think offering coupons with each sizing. Think recommending clothes for certain body types.

And the more this technology grows, the more intriguing it will get. (A personal sizing scan in your phone, anyone?) But before we jump to any amazing promotion ideas, let’s address the first issue—Would you use a machine like this? Tell us your thoughts. This week for CBD’s Meaningful Month, we’ll be talking clothes. We’d love for you to join our conversation.