UX/UI
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7 MIN READ
Sizing information is a vital piece of the eCommerce customer experience that often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Here are some best practices, tips, and tricks for getting sizing right.
Nearly half of shoppers in the U.S. buy multiple sizes of the same apparel item with the intent of returning the ones that don’t fit.
That’s according to a survey that was conducted in the summer of 2019, before the pandemic. With the resultant surge in and broadening of online shopping since then, we can infer this practice has only increased. Which means more brands may be seeing narrower profit margins.
Providing more comprehensive and intuitive sizing information to increase conversions and decrease returns — seems like it should be a simple win, right? The surprising thing is how many online retailers don’t do it. In fact, research from the eCommerce UX experts at Baymard Institute shows that 43% of the benchmark sites Baymard looked at either failed to provide any sizing information or didn’t provide sizing information that was usable.
Research from Baymard Institute shows that 43% of their benchmarked sites either failed to provide any sizing information or provided sizing information that was not usable.
What are the repercussions? In addition to losing short-term revenue and incurring extra costs, the hassle and frustration of buying the wrong size can also lead to longer-term losses, such as lower customer lifetime value (CLTV) due to bad customer experience.
Although there are some innovative tools to help customers with sizing and fit (we’ll get to those later in this post), at the very least, brands need to make sure that customers can easily understand the sizing and/or fit information. Don’t make customers do the math or guess which section of a body part they’re supposed to measure.
Women’s retail is particularly fraught with sizing challenges, due to an overall lack of standardization. In addition, for non-apparel products like furniture and appliances, it can often be difficult for customers to determine if a product will fit in a particular space. Providing irrelevant sizing information can be as harmful to the user experience as providing inadequate sizing information. Baymard Institute testing shows that when customers get a generic sizing chart and have to scroll through it to find information relevant to the product they’re shopping for, they often give up. Users also reported that receiving irrelevant sizing information damaged their perception of the product and site.
According to Baymard research and based on our experience designing eCommerce sites, some key best practices to follow for sizing include:
Don’t make customers hunt for the size guide. Sizing information should be located on the product detail page (PDP), near where the customer selects size. Many brands provide a link to a pop-up sizing chart; another simple solution is to add the sizing chart as one of the product photos in the image gallery. For products like furniture and appliances, include product dimensions on the PDP! Don’t require customers to download and read the product manual.
If sizing or fit are often purchase barriers for certain products, consider providing an easy link to or information for contacting customer service on the PDP. For example, retailer brand Walker Edison includes infographic images of their products with dimensions directly inside the product gallery so that customers can easily access key dimensional information early on in their product detail browsing journey.
Why stop at a sizing conversion chart? Some retailers have added extra information that can help customers determine if a product fits a customer’s needs. For example, fountain pen retailer Goulet Pens provides a “Nib Guide” link shown alongside available writing nib options, which opens a pop-up window showing writing samples of each nib style to help customers determine which nib option suits their writing preferences.
Additional instructions on how to better understand sizing and measuring correctly can also be instrumental in getting sizing right. Cycling brand Pearl iZUMi also adds extra fit information with a tabbed sizing information experience. Select products feature styles labeled with fit categories (e.g. Semi-Form Fit), and the Sizing Guide pop-up features a tabbed experience with helpful information such as a size chart with measurements, a fit guide showing illustrations comparing fit styles, and a how-to guide on how to properly take measurements at home.
Including information about what size the model in the photo is wearing can be very helpful as a point of reference to help customers understand how the item might fit on them. A great place to put this information is as a caption on the photo in the image gallery. ORIGIN USA includes these sizing labels as captions with select images of their denim products. By providing information about the model’s physical stature and showing how products fit on that model, customers can gauge how clothes fit on different body types.
Non-apparel brands can also “model” the fit & specifications of their products. Mattress brand Tuft & Needle gets creative with demonstrating these attributes by using lifestyle videos to demonstrate key determining “fit” factors such as firmness, back support, and responsiveness.
An intuitive and visual way to help customers decide between different fits and styles is with a comparison chart. For example, iROCKER’s “Add to Compare” feature on collection pages allows users to select multiple paddle board models and view a side-by-side comparison chart outlining key technical specifications per product. It’s easier to discern compatibility and product fit when key attributes are displayed in an easy-to-read grid.
Depending on the product, you may be able to help your customers "try out" the products before purchasing. Curated content and AR tools can help with this.
A little creativity with downloadable content can go a long way in presenting useful how-to's and sizing information. Pit Viper offers a clever example of this — the sunglasses brand offers a "Wide Guide", which provides downloadable PDF paper cut-outs of their products that users can hold up to their faces to compare the different product sizes. This “Wide Guide” is accessible from the site’s global header, making it widely available across the site experience.
3D imaging and augmented reality (AR) also make it possible to create virtual "try-on" features that provide helpful insights for selecting the right product. Using tools such as Shopify AR, you have the ability to provide an interactive experience that can give customers a more realistic idea of how the product will look in real life. A range of retailers, such as Target and Amazon, integrate AR apps for furniture to help customers visualize how a furniture item will fit into their space; while some single-brand retailers, such as Bonlook, incorporate AR tools like Fitting Box to give customers the capability to “try on” glasses from its online store using a device’s camera.
Some review apps, such as Yotpo, include fields to prompt customers to indicate their height and weight, and if a product was small, true to fit, or large, which can be very valuable information for other customers. Asking for this feedback in reviews can also help address sizing issues that are due to factors like fabric type — e.g., a compressive fabric might necessitate ordering a size up from a customer’s normal size.
Technology tools exist to help with fit. One is True Fit, a platform trying to address apparel’s non-standard sizing problem. Using AI, data points from major brands and retailers, and customer responses to a few questions about preferred fit and styles, True Fit provides a brand’s customers with a selection of product recommendations to browse.
Sizing information is a vital piece of the eCommerce customer experience that often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Clear and useful sizing information builds trust with customers, who feel confident to come back and purchase again. In addition to building customer long-term value, using best practices when it comes to structuring and displaying sizing information also will help you reduce returns, which could be a huge win for your bottom line.
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