Shape-shifting mannequins show sizes

(CBS/Reuters) Getting the right clothing size can be a difficult task for online shoppers, but Fits.Me, a company in Estonia, says it has the answer - a shape-shifting robot.

The moveable mannequins come in male and female forms and can transform into 100,000 different sizes.

Just plug in the customer's measurements and their body type is mimicked.

Clothing retailers can use the new technology to create a virtual fitting room on their websites - showing customers how an item would look on their body.

Fits.Me says online retailers have the highest return rate in e-commerce with one in four garments being returned - mostly due to a bad fit.

London-based shirt maker Hawes & Curtis uses the technology for its online sales and has seen an improvement.

"It's cutting down on the amount of returns," said Antony Comyns, the head of the company's e-commerce division.

"For us, it obviously increases your profits because it's quite an expensive operation to be taking in returns, but from a customer point of view it's brilliant because you get the shirt first time. You open it, you put it on, and it should fit," he said.

Fits.Me hopes that the lack of a fitting room no longer poses a problem for online apparel sites and their customers.