The Perfect fit: Reducing returns through accurate sizing

Reducing Returns

From our latest e-book Reducing Returns - A guide for growing fashion brands, we learn many strategies and tactics on how to win the battle over your returns. One of them are to optimize the level of expectation you set for your customers and help them make informed purchase decisions. Doing so you want to make sure that your size & fit is on top of the game.

‍The Importance of Accurate Sizing Information

Accurate sizing and fit information is not just a convenience—it's a necessity in the online fashion industry, where a significant percentage of returns are due to poor fit. Providing clear, detailed sizing information can drastically reduce these returns, improve customer satisfaction, and enhance your brand's reputation.

Misfits account for around 70% of all returns in the fashion sector. This high figure illustrates the critical role accurate sizing information plays in reducing returns. Brands that succeed in providing precise fit details benefit from lower return rates, higher customer retention, and better overall profitability. But there are a lot of ways to do it and in this blog post we have summarized the key findings from our e-book Reducing Returns.

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How to provide accurate sizing information and reduce returns

1. Comprehensive Size Guides
   • Develop detailed size charts that include all relevant measurements for each product. Ensure these guides are easily accessible on product pages.
2. Consistency Across the Board
   • Maintain uniformity in sizing across all products to prevent confusion and build trust with your customers. Inconsistencies can lead to dissatisfaction and high return rates.‍
3. Model Diversity‍
   • Use models of various sizes and shapes to demonstrate how products look on different body types.
4. Model information
   • Provide information about the models height and build to help customers identify and understand how it may look on them.‍
5. Customer feedback‍
   • Let your shoppers help guide each other. Gather feedback and display on product sites (This one runs small or A bit short sleeves)‍
6. Real Customer Measurements‍
   • Encourage customers to share their measurements and fit experiences as part of their reviews. This real-life data can be invaluable for other shoppers and help them make better fitting purchases.‍
7. Advanced Fitting Technologies‍
   • Implement innovative technologies such as virtual fitting rooms or AI-powered size recommendation tools that help customers choose the right size based on their measurements and past purchases.

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Expert Insight

"Brands need to be more consistent with sizes. Look at Nike, if you have US9 you do not need to try it, you can buy the same size and it will fit you. But many new fashion brands usually have many different sizes for the same size 'small' which is very confusing and leads to huge amounts of returns," says Moon-Suck Song, CEO & Co-Founder at Panagora.

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Providing accurate size and fit information is a fundamental component of reducing returns in the fashion industry. By investing in accurate sizing guides, innovative technology, and customer feedback systems, you will help customers make informed buying decisions and put yourself in a position to significantly decrease your return rates.

Want to learn more about this and other great tactics to reduce your returns? Make sure to download the full e-book Reducing Returns

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