Not to state the obvious, but a woman’s breasts are on her chest. Front and center. They’re right there. But despite their prominent placement, most women don’t know much about them. Some reports state that up to 70 or 80% of women are wearing the incorrect bra size.
But bra size is just the beginning.
Which is where Tomima Edmark comes in. It’s been an almost three-year odyssey for Edmark, founder of HerRoom, a lingerie e-commerce site that carries more than 200 brands of bra. After hearing continual feedback from customers that their bras weren’t fitting right, and getting no joy from the manufacturers who simply said the women must be wearing the wrong bra size, Edmark decided to run some tests of her own. She bought high-tension elastic and breast prosthetics to measure cup size and took a sampling of more than 200 bras—and what she discovered was somewhat unexpected. The manufacturer and the customer were both right.
“I realized that the manufacturers really have standardized this industry, or they’ve come pretty darn close,” Edmark says. “So why don’t these bras fit? I went on a search to find out.”
On Aug. 17, after many rounds of customer research, more product testing, and focus groups, HerRoom released the “Know Your Breasts Bra Finder,” a new web-based feature that the company says “reinvents the intimate apparel shopping experience.” Visitors who access the bra finder are treated to a truly comprehensive survey that goes into granular detail about the user’s breasts—everything from breastbone alignment to aureole type—to ultimately determine the best styles for her shape.
Following the in-depth quiz—and providing an email address—women are given their “very personal results,” including explanations and product recommendations. They’re also presented with a non-expiring 10% off coupon. Between Friday’s launch and Monday morning—just 48 hours—Edmark says roughly 12,500 women made it all the way through the bra finder survey. HerRoom will use the addresses to target customers with relevant online offers.
“We don’t ever recommend a bra if it’s not for them; for example, if it doesn’t come in their size,” she says. “Bras are either your size or they’re not—a woman who is a 28 double G is not interested in a double D bra.”
But it’s not just about selling bras. Edmark says her goal is to educate her customers.
“I have more bras on our site than any lingerie store you could walk into, but this is about making smarter consumers,” Edmark says. “It’s about making information easily available to them.”
