Delhi-based Purnima Sahay is a true fashionista. She has always been on-trend and makes sure her attire speaks her style, every single time. With her passion for fashion, she is a “regular” on various e-commerce channels and spends hours zeroing in on her purchase. Why, you may ask. Because the quality of digital catalogues isn’t up to the mark. The inaccuracy in visual representation and various other gaps make it a challenge for her and many others to arrive at the “right choice.” 

That’s exactly where a tech-based company like Jotter.ai steps into the picture. Founded by Madhavi Arelli, Harini Boinipally and Hasini Boinipally, the company prides itself on delivering differentiated experiences that engage shoppers within the comfort of their homes. By building AI-based automated solutions around image recognition using Computer Vision, Image Processing and Deep Learning, Jotter is also able to help manufacturers, aggregators, retailers and product sellers to turbocharge their business. 

In a world that is steered by personalisation, it is important to provide customised options to users that cater to that palate. With Jotter’s AI engine, this and much more is possible. Apart from offering a distinctive experience and recommendations curated for every user, it also gives businesses the benefit of analytical insights that can be leveraged to increase revenue. 

Whether it is natural-looking projections or advanced features like compare, try-on, and more, Jotter.ai ticks all the right boxes. They have partnered with Amazon as its global imagery partner for 30 countries, and are also PAN-India partners with Flipkart. They work with over 50 diverse clients across apparel, retail, electronics, home and furniture and grocery. 

But before we get down to the other details, it is important to understand why the digital catalogue industry is evolving at a rapid pace.

Digital catalogue imagery: The need of the hour

With social media and e-commerce growing at a fast pace, there is nothing more critical than visual imagery (and of course, price) to appease a shopper. This has also brought to the forefront the need for an automated solution for digital catalogues. In a nutshell, this means that the digital catalogue demand is directly proportional to the e-commerce market growth. This proposition also creates an opportunity and the need to find a solution to the complex demand situation. It is essential to understand that the adoption of online shopping has fast-forwarded, especially due to the incidence of the pandemic. 

The prevalence and growth of new-age technologies like AI has revolutionized this industry. With a digital-first approach and inclination towards automation, the very aspect of manual labour goes down. This, in turn, doesn’t just help in saving time, but also reduces cost and increases productivity. In any other scenario, keying in SKUs one at a time demands more manpower and time, which diverts attention from important issues. 

With Jotter. ai, the very challenge of daily model intervention is wiped out. It also minimises or eliminates the need for make-up artists, styling, studios, product transportation, as well as reliance on editors. 

“Not many know that 98% of work done on digital catalogues is a manual process. For over a decade now, catalogue generation has functioned like this. The average spend is anywhere between Rs 700-2000, it’s a huge amount to get one SKU. It’s definitely a complex problem, and I believe automation will help people, cost and time-wise. To get 1000 pieces up, it takes 10-20 days, and the latency is more. With this, the existing challenge is solved,” says Arelli. 

Role of AI in resolving this challenge

With Jotter.ai, it is simple to generate high-quality digital catalogues across product categories. Not just that, it accelerates time to market, improves personalisation and helps with product discovery. These catalogues are the perfect solution to boost revenues, and at the same time, cut costs. But what is the methodology?

To start off with, we deep dive into how their process works. When Jotter’s AI engine receives input images, it utilises its deep learning networks for Object Detection, Auto Cropping, Image Orientation Check, etc. The next step is to build AI-based draping algorithms that include Human Feature Extraction, 3D Mesh Creation, Custom Image Processing, and more. The last step is to create services for Image Editing. This encompasses auto shadow generation on garment edge, AI-auto cropping based on specifications, and last but not the least, adding appropriate lighting, colouring, sharpness and exposure removal. 

This is the underlying principle behind Jo Lookbook, which can generate natural-looking 3D catalogues with garments and accessories within seconds. The benefits are many - from adapting to changing styles, trends and customer demand, no requirement of photoshoots or editing, and big savings. 

There’s also a Jo App that offers users the freedom to try on clothes and see how they look on them! It’s as simple as taking a full-size selfie, uploading it and then AI takes over. Experiment with as many dresses and accessories, or try on the latest celebrity looks. It’s a dream come true for those who love being in vogue! 

And for customers who are watch collectors, Jo Watch is all they need to decide on a suitable watch. Yes, with the kind of options available online, trying out what looks great and also serves its purpose is crucial. Users just have to click and view the selected watch on a wrist image. They can also experiment with different brands and models, and also with all kinds of features and sizes. 

Impact and scale

Before we discuss the impact of Jotter.ai, it is also critical to look into certain limitations. Currently, their clients have to follow certain product shoot guidelines to provide them with input images. Moreover, generating catalogues for complex poses is not a feature. Last but not the least, the scope for the virtual trial market is still nascent. 

Over the last few years, Jotter.ai has grown by leaps and bounds, and currently has a turnover of Rs 300 crore. It also has some impressive results to its credit: 

• 50X faster than traditional methods
• >10% increase in order value
• 40% higher customer engagement 
• 90% savings on photoshoots

E-commerce, as an industry, is on an upward trajectory and so are food deliveries and offline B2B stores. With the power of AI, digital catalogue services can be utilised to make a huge difference. After all, an image speaks a thousand words, and in this case, also set cash registers ringing.

Image by Hannes Edinger from Pixabay