Target sizes shoppers with body scanner

Target Australia is set to tour a body scanner around Australia over the next two months in a bid to size customers correctly and lower returns on purchases from its online store.

Customers will walk fully clothed into the Target-branded body scanner, and in one minute they will be handed a print-out of their measurements. The body-scanner program is set to give customers a more accurate idea of how they fit into Target's sizing scheme, managing director Dene Rogers said today.

"Sizing inconsistencies are a major cause of customer frustration across the retail industry, and the leading contributor of return rates for clothing both in-store and online," he said.

Target has teamed up with US-based apparel research firm Alvanon to tour the body scanner around Westfield shopping centres in NSW, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia between 26 April and 29 May.

Target is looking to scan 20,000 people during the sizing tour, and will hand the information gleaned to Alvanon, which will then use the data to size clothes better for Target consumers in the future.

"Once we have taken the 20,000 body scans, we will analyse them and produce the most dominant shapes and corresponding size charts for Target's consumer population. Target's fashion-development teams will then use this data to optimise the fit of clothes for its shoppers," said Janice Wang, CEO of the Alvanon Group.