Amazon is about to change the way we shop online forever

We already know that 2018 is the year of innovation in fashion, with older and curvier models taking to the runway and brands such as ASOS debuting photoshop-free campaigns.

Now, online giant Amazon is taking it one step further. The American powerhouse is allegedly set to introduce a service, based on their revolutionary 3-D scanning unit, that will help shoppers predict how a garment will fit them.

The brand is currently working on creating statistical 3-D models of human bodies, which will help them assess how a pair of jeans or a suit fits different body shapes.

Cher's wardrobe system from 1995's Clueless seems like a thing of the past. Image: Paramount Pictures

The aim of this innovation is to help prevent the return of ill-fitting garments.

" We are interested in understanding how bodies change shape over time," an Amazon rep told The Wall Street Journal.

It’s understandable that Amazon would want to diminish their returns rate. Reimbursing garments is one of the highest costs for online retailers since it requires paying for shipping both ways, along with processing the item when it gets back to a warehouse.

"The returns rates are really high. And it’s absolutely not free for the retailer,” John Haber, chief executive of supply chain consultancy Spend Management Experts, told WSJ.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Image: Getty

The technology would be the first of its kind in the online shopping realm and would mean big rewards for Amazon. The company is expected to overtake Walmart Inc. to become the largest apparel retailer in the U.S. this year, according to Morgan Stanley analysts.

That fact may surprise some, but the online retailer has become a fashion force to be reckoned with in the past few years. They have launched a number of private brands and in 2017 introduced ‘ Echo Look’, a device which allows consumers to take photos and compare their looks side by side for a critique.