While many online fashion businesses focus on providing a specific aesthetic to their target audiences, and carefully curate their inventory based on trends or style preferences, size and fit must be taken into account for customer satisfaction.
Size and fit accuracy may not often be talked about as much as style, but it plays a big role in how it impacts your sales. Without your customers being confident in how the size and fit of an item will be, you can deter first time purchasers, and even lose potential repeat business.
A major factor for many customers, especially first time buyers, is feeling confident in the accuracy of size and fit of apparel items. If they feel unsure that an item will fit them or look good, they likely will not end up buying the item.
Sizing charts have long been the industry standard, but most consumers have come to realize that they are not always properly indicative of how each individual item will look like. Different fabrics fall differently or have stretch, size range can differ from country to country as there is a lack of consistency in the Fashion industry, and consumers are also becoming more wise to the fact that many clothing items are altered or edited when photographed for online shops.
These conditions have led to many consumers being unsure of size and fit accuracy and can feel frustrated when buying apparel online. But you can curb these issues if you use a more accurate size and fit tool, or even use customer data in order to ensure more confidence in how an item will look on each buyer.
While some customers may not be deterred by unclear size and fit accuracy, they will make returns at a higher rate if their purchases are not what they are expecting.
Even more frustrating for customers than an unclear sizing found online, is receiving purchased items and they do not fit as expected. It becomes a greater effort for the customer to have to make the return, which can also lead to them not making new purchases.
High return rates are bad for business, and restocking and unsold inventory can be detrimental to your profit margins. Fashion e-commerce businesses need to focus on the activities that lead to lower return rates, and a main one is accuracy in size and fit. When customers are satisfied with their products and like the way clothing and other apparel items look, they won't make returns as frequently, and also will be more likely to have confidence in making future purchases.
When customers are satisfied with the size and fit accuracy of the items they order, they are much more likely to become repeat buyers. It can be that if they make returns on their first purchases they will be willing to try again if they like the customer service experience, price points, and style, but if they get size and fit wrong more than once, you may lose them forever.
Repeat customers are much better for business, making it crucial that you have tools on your website that enable shoppers to understand how your products will fit them. Using more personalization can be a great way to instil that first-time confidence, and the accuracy that comes along with more personalized sizing tools ensures a reduction in returns, and the satisfaction that creates repeat business.
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