Online fashion and apparel businesses are determined to grow rapidly in the nearer future. It is reported that the worldwide eCommerce revenue is estimated to increase from $481.2 billion in 2018 to $712.9 billion by 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic has further propelled the growth of online retailers, big and small, to switch from brick-and-mortar towards the online marketplace.
Furthermore, the continuous development in technology and convenience of set-and-go eCommerce platforms are all contributing tremendously to the ever-growing fashion businesses. While the future of online fashion appears to be promising, there are some underlying expenses merchants should never overlook, sizing issues in particular.
Sizing issues and high return rates are two significant challenges faced by both customers and fashion eCommerce retailers. Retailers scramble to provide flexible return options and manage costly personnel expenses. Customers get frustrated by not being able to get the desired product size upon their first purchase.
According to a survey conducted in the UK, shoppers are returning an astonishing £7 billion of purchases every year, indicating an astronomical loss of revenue for retailers. A data analytics firm, GlobalData further stressed that the highest returned items are clothing and footwear.
Sizing is now becoming a pressing issue to solve for fashion and apparel retailers if they wish to sustain their business long term. And implementing a sizing chart might just be the right direction to start.
In this article, we’ll introduce the benefits of creating sizing charts for your fashion shop and tips on how to boost conversion and reduce order return rates by displaying an ideal guide for your online customers.
Top 3 Benefits of Creating Size Charts for Your Online Fashion Shop
Helping your customer choose consciously about their desired product size is extremely important. This can be achieved by integrating a sizing tool into your eCommerce website. Below are 3 critical benefits you can reap from when creating a sizing chart for your Shopify store.
#Benefit 1 Increase customer engagement and order conversions
Customer experience is the center of every business. When all the information is easily accessible at one’s fingertips, keeping your shoppers engaged is the number one priority. An informative sizing chart will help your customers understand more about your product and choose with better confidence, which is a critical factor for first-time shoppers. You can further improve customer experience by creating customized customer account pages using tools like Getflits. By keeping all your customer data in one dashboard, you’ll be able to offer more personalized shopping suggestions and run target marketing campaigns to stimulate new purchases.
As many fashion and apparel shops are serving global customers, it’s also important to offer sizing measurements according to your target audience’s preference. For example, you should offer sizing charts measuring in centimeters in Asia while showing inches for your US/European shoppers. A well-designed size chart guarantees that customers are buying what they expect, which will further shorten the purchasing process and boost order conversions altogether.
#Benefit 2 Reduce order returns and handling costs altogether
A detailed sizing chart can scale down both your order return rate and handling fee. Every eCommerce owner knows too well about allocating additional budget to handle returned goods and packaging fees. It’s very time-consuming and not budget-friendly at all. On the contrary, margins for retailers are so low that high order return rates can seriously damage your revenue and brand image. With various customized size charts designed for different products and target audiences, you’ll be able to ensure customers find their best fit and avoid returns afterward.
#Benefit 3 Cut down expenses on personnel support
When you offer clear sizing information on your website, you can save more on personnel expenses and reallocate your budget for other revenue-related activities. A comprehensive sizing guide provides all the necessary information your customer needs to know before they make a purchase. This way, you are minimizing workload for your customer support.
In addition, with fewer order returns, you no longer need to hire so many staff to process and repackage all the received goods. That’s another way to cut down your costs on personnel. Most importantly, you can invest this money in campaigns such as optimizing your website, driving brand awareness, or designing loyalty programs to stay engaged with your customers.
Must-know tips for designing ideal size charts to boost conversion
Now that we learned the benefits of including size charts in your eCommerce shop, let’s take a deeper look into different ways to design an ideal size chart that can drive higher conversions.
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- Get rid of static size chart images
Mobile commerce is the dominant growth in the overall eCommerce marketplace now, indicating that static size charts are just not user-friendly anymore. Not only does your website need to be compliant for desktop users, but it must also work for mobile users. In the US alone, the amount of time consumers spend on their mobile devices every day has increased from 188 minutes in 2016 to 234 minutes in 2021. A static size chart interferes with visitors’ browsing experience, which undoubtedly leads to low engagement and even lower order conversions. That’s where a dynamic size chart comes in.
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- Use a dynamic size chart
A dynamic size chart conforms to both desktop and mobile users. That means with a responsive web design (RWD) in mind, you can assure that your size charts will resize automatically based on the users’ screen size. Furthermore, sizing tools like Kiwi Sizing offer different size charts and customization for merchants. For specific products like pet apparel, furniture, or helmets, merchants can create their own sizing algorithm based on their needs. Detailed and user-friendly size charts enable customers to find their desired sizes faster and easier.
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- Include measurement and model information
Every apparel brand measures its outfit differently. Hence, it’s better to also let your customers know how these sizing details are measured, along with your models’ information. As customers have collected all the necessary product information they need, they’ll be able to make a more satisfying purchase in the first place, reducing their order return rates simultaneously.
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- Use international size charts
Obviously, consumers shop differently around the globe. One way to improve your online shop’s customer engagement is to offer international sizing charts or use a sizing tool that offers automatic unit conversion. The two most commonly used measurements are cms and inches. If you’re serving international customers, it’s best to include both in your size charts. You can help reduce customers’ confusion and instill assurance before they click that “Pay” button.
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- Use visually-appealing image
We all get attracted to beautiful things. The same rule applies to online fashion businesses. Many sizing tools allow you to add images or videos to help further demonstrate how your product looks on a real-life person. Therefore, when designing your sizing guide, make sure your product description matches the images shown on site. For example, if you are offering multiple colors for one product, you can include different images to let your customers know how each color may match with them.
Lastly, it comes down to how to find the right sizing tool that meets your requirements. Below are the top 3 factors to consider:
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- Compatibility with your eCommerce site
Which eCommerce platform are you using? Is it Shopify, WooCommece, BigCommerce, or others? No matter which platform you’re using, you need to make sure the sizing tool you selected is compatible with your online store. For example, sizing tools like Kiwi Sizing works seamlessly with all major eCommerce platforms, so merchants won’t have difficulties integrating a sizing tool into their shop.
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- Simplicity of integration
Not all eCommerce owners are tech-savvy. Limited time, money, and resources are usually what shop owners need to consider before having their shops up and running. Therefore, you’ll need a sizing tool that’s easy to implement without knowing too many coding skills or tech backgrounds.
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- Flexibility of customization
Last but not least, is the flexibility to customize your size charts according to your preference. For some apparel items that need specific sizes such as lingeries, you can ask your customers to enter their body measurements and recommend the best fitting size for them. For more complex products such as shoes or belts, merchants may need a more flexible sizing tool that helps provide more comprehensive information to nurture their customers before purchase.
Sizing issues are no doubt a problematic issue every apparel and fashion eCommerce owner is facing. However, with the right sizing tool and well-designed size charts, along with other tools that help increase customer engagement, merchants will be able to recreate a pleasant online shopping experience for their customers, all the while reducing order return expenses caused by inaccurate purchases.
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Kiwi Sizing is an e-commerce plugin to help solve the sizing problems for online shopping. Over 40% of online clothing returns are due to sizes. Kiwi Sizing is designed to make sizing easy by offering stylish size charts and easy-to-use fit recommenders that let shoppers know what is the best size to purchase. We help improve conversions, cut down on returns, and lower the needs for customer support.
We are trusted by thousands of Shopify stores with over 400 5-star reviews. Try it now for free and start reducing unnecessary returns.
