Amazon Adds Virtual Try-On for Shoes

The world’s largest retailer is using artificial intelligence (AI)-based innovation to drive eCommerce sales, as Amazon on Thursday (June 9) debuted Virtual Try-On for Shoes, an interactive mobile experience that allows customers to visualize how a pair of shoes will look on them.

The tool will “better inform purchasing decisions,” according to the Amazon blog post, which notes that U.S. and Canadian users can utilize it “from the comfort of their home or on the go” through the Amazon shopping app on iOS.

Virtual Try-On for Shoes features thousands of sneaker styles from New Balance, adidas, Reebok, Puma, Superga, Lacoste, Asics, Saucony and other footwear brands. After selecting a shoe, customers can tap the Virtual Try-On button below the product image and point the camera on their mobile device at their feet to see how the shoes look on them.

Customers can then move their feet to see how the shoes look from every angle, change colors of the selected footwear by scrolling through the carousel of options and take a photo of the virtual shoe they’re trying on to share with friends through social media, the post said.

Virtual Try-On for Shoes also allows brands to showcase their products and make shopping for their styles more interactive.

“Amazon Fashion’s goal is to create innovative experiences that make shopping for fashion online easier and more delightful for customers,” Muge Erdirik Dogan, president of Amazon Fashion, said in the company blog post.

In other apparel news, in May, Nike charged sneaker marketplace StockX with selling fraudulent shoes. StockX promised it only sold legitimate footwear, but Nike claimed it had bought four pairs of counterfeit shoes on the platform.

Related: Nike Alleges Sneaker Marketplace StockX is Selling Fake Shoes

Nike had asked a judge to let it add claims of counterfeiting and false advertising to its existing lawsuit, which is about trademark infringement. The lawsuit originated in February, when Nike accused StockX of “blatantly freeriding” on Nike’s trademarks and goodwill through its Vault NFTs service.

StockX said its non-fungible tokens (NFTs) aren’t digital sneakers, but rather “listings for physical sneakers that are stored in a vault.”