Google’s AI-Powered Virtual Try-On: A New Era for Fashion E-Commerce
By Enrico Fantaguzzi, Editor-in-Chief, Digital Fashion Academy
May 25th 2025, updated
At Google’s annual I/O conference for developers, Google announced several new advances, including a more personalised multimodal AI search experience for shopping queries, agentic checkout capabilities and an enhancement to its virtual try-on tool that will allow users to see products on their own body.
What does “agentic” checkout mean?
Agentic checkout, it’s an ecommerce check out that behaves autonomously. I.e. the check out acts like an agent that completes a series of actions without you being involved. For example the agentic checkout could ask you, “Do you want to buy this product?” and, if you say yes, it might be able to complete the purchase on it’s own.
How is the agentic checkout able to complete a purchase on your behalf?
The agentic check out can complete the purchase on our behalf if it has all the necessary information to complete the checkout. First of all it needs the payment method saved – Google Pay wallet – and then it may need confirmation of your shipping address.
Google’s AI virtual try-on (VTO)
Virtual try ons are not new to the digital fashion industry, I personally used virtual try ones and virtual fitting solutions in some of the companies I worked for (Twinset, 7 For All Mankind) with excellent results in terms of conversion rate but recently the improvements in AI have made possible to achieve more efficiency (savings) to implement VTO for fashion products.
At I/O 2025, Google unveiled a significant upgrade to its AI Mode shopping experience: a powerful virtual try-on feature that allows users to upload their own photos and visualise garments on their bodies. Powered by advanced generative AI, the system simulates fabric fit and texture across various body types, promising a new level of personalization in online shopping.
This development has the potential to be a game-changer for fashion e-commerce. But beyond the consumer-facing benefits, what does this mean for fashion brands, especially those navigating the complexities of digital transformation?
Organizational Impact
Fashion brands will need to rethink how they organize their product content. To fully take advantage of AI-powered platforms like Google’s, brands must invest in rich, structured product data, including detailed images, accurate sizing information, and standardized metadata. Product photography will likely need to evolve to include multi-angle, high-resolution, and fabric-dynamic visuals that AI models can effectively process.
Furthermore, cross-functional teams, marketing, merchandising, IT, and customer experience, will need to collaborate more closely to align content creation, technology integration, and user experience. This may drive brands to create or expand dedicated digital innovation teams.
Business Strategy Implications
From a business perspective, these AI tools could significantly impact conversion rates, return rates, and customer satisfaction. By reducing the uncertainty associated with fit and appearance, virtual try-on tools may decrease returns, one of the biggest operational costs in online fashion retail.
Additionally, AI-powered personalization could improve customer loyalty by offering a more tailored experience. Brands that successfully integrate these tools may also gain a competitive edge in SEO and product discoverability, especially if they are early adopters and featured in Google Shopping results.
However, brands must also consider data privacy, AI ethics, and moderation challenges. Reports have already highlighted potential misuses of generative AI in retail contexts, including the generation of hypersexualized imagery. This underlines the need for responsible implementation, clear user safeguards, and rigorous testing before adopting such features at scale.
The Road Ahead
As AI redefines how consumers interact with products online, fashion companies must evolve, not just in terms of tech adoption, but in mindset and internal workflows. This is not just a marketing opportunity, but a strategic inflection point: the brands that adapt their structures, teams, and processes for a digitally immersive future will be the ones that thrive.
Supporting and integrating with third party applications such as Google AI or ChatGPT is just a first step in a digital transformation process that need to create value for the customer
Enrico Fantaguzzi
However, supporting and integrating third party applications such as Google AI or ChatGPT is just a first step in a digital transformation process that need to create value for the customer. Google’s “Shopping Graph now has more than 50 billion product listings, from global retailers to local mom and pop shops, each with details like reviews, prices, color options and availability”, so that customers have more options to select from, however people don’t just buy a new product everytime they go on a trip or to a party, therefore customers should be allowed to integrate the AI features within their own wardrobe. This would allow people to integrate their current selection of garments with new products that their missing. This step is critical for user experience but also to create a sustainable digital fashion industry,
At Digital Fashion Academy, we believe that understanding and leveraging these technologies is no longer optional, it’s essential. We’ll continue to monitor these developments and support fashion professionals with the knowledge and skills needed to lead in the age of AI.
Sources
- Google Blog: AI Mode and Virtual Try-On Update
- The Atlantic: Google’s Shopping Tool and AI Image Ethics
- Google I/O 2025 Recap (for context on product announcements)
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