“Online clothing retailers struggle with high return rates, which is about 20%” says Sucharita Mulpuru, a Principal Analyst for Forrester Research. “For expensive items, returns rates are even higher — 50%. The numbers look even even bigger, if you consider return rates of Brick-and-mortar stores — less than 10%.” (Erin G. Smith, WSJ)
Sizing & fitting is one of the inherent problems for not just customers shopping online, but also for online retailers. Many retailers have tried to dig deeper into the problem and find a solution to break this barrier between fashion brands and shoppers. Years of attempts to standardise sizing have been fruitless; fitting people into rigid size “frames” seems impossible.
Read more about the attempts of sizes standardisation and vanity sizing here
One of the biggest obstacles for companies expanding into global markets is providing accurate sizing for the local markets. And when you add international expansion of brand and global tourism into the equation, the size complexity multiplies.
So why do customers return the products that they buy online? There can be many reasons, for example — maybe they didn’t like the color or fabric, maybe they simply changed their mind, or it simply didn’t fit them the way they expected. As an Online Retailer, gathering data related to the reasons behind returns is of paramount importance if you are serious about winning customer loyalty…
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