Why Measurements Fall Short In Solving The Sizing Problem

Sizing Standards In The Industry

In the past, sizing was just about measurements, because fashion was mainly tailor-made. With the evolution of industry and the concept of ready-to-wear coming into the picture, sizing is not just a mathematical problem of mapping consumer's body measurements to garment measurements anymore. It is more complex than that, because it is also about the right fit and style.

Every brand these days has its own idea of an average size, according to its target customer. To make things worse, there is the issue of 'vanity sizing'. This is a practice of labelling bigger size clothing with a smaller size. According to the Journal of Consumer Psychology, it is mostly done to increase the self-esteem of women while shopping, assuming that they want to be a smaller size than reality. Therefore, the company marks a size 8 as a size 6, a size 6 as a size 4, so on and so forth.

Using a size chart is an industry norm, but is it really sufficient?

1. Size charts provide a basic level of customer advice but are hard to use and time consuming. Like many people find it hard to read maps, size charts too can get tricky to interpret. Customers might pick out the wrong size even after checking out the size chart.
2. Size charts are very generic in nature. Brands typically have one size chart for all items in general or within one category, despite items looking and fitting differently. These charts differ from country to country, and are rarely updated.
3. As a brand, it can be difficult to have all garment measurements in one place and it takes a lot of time for them to get the measurements from factories, or measure everything themselves.

Other than that, sometimes it is very difficult for shoppers to measure themselves, for several reasons. Firstly, not everyone has a measuring tape or any other measuring instrument at their disposal at all times. It can also be very strenuous to take measurements of oneself if you are alone. Lastly, it can trigger some shoppers in a negative way to take measurements if they have body image issues or lack self-confidence. Focusing on measurements often turns shoppers off from shopping – e.g. imagine seeing your body in 3D or being asked about your weight, while trying to buy a new dress.

Online shopping is supposed to be effortless and quick, it should not feel like a task. For any e-commerce brand, it is very important to make the customer feel confident and make shopping for them easy and fun. If a brand fails to provide a good customer experience to the shopper, they might not return back, or worse, not even convert that very time.

Why We Don't Use Measurements?

For all these reasons mentioned above, we don't use any measurements. At Easysize, we care more about the shopper's style and fit and how they want an item to look on them.

In real life, the same shopper might wear a slim-fitted shirt to work and a comfy oversized hoodie to chill at home – their body is the same but the choice of sizes for both the items will be different. It is also possible that the same t-shirt can be bought and worn by a shopper in different sizes and ways: a tighter one to wear underneath a shirt, a looser one – to wear it by itself or exercise in. The possibilities are endless.

To deliver exactly all this and more, Easysize uses data which is more relevant than mere measurements. When recommending the right size, we try to get as close to real-life as possible – e.g. replicate how a shopper would choose the size in real life. And hence, every recommendation makes much more sense and instills confidence, which in turns converts a new shopper into a recurring and loyal one.