Operating in a highly competitive market means having to be agile with the changes and needs of the public, but this is already something very familiar to anyone who works in fashion e-commerce.
This is because the number of virtual stores that sell clothes, shoes and accessories grows all the time and in different market niches.
In addition to being a disputed terrain for brands, the technological context of e-commerce also has extremely dynamic characteristics, which means that online stores have undergone more changes in recent years than in the previous decade.
However, the element of change does not only impact brands, in fact, it also impacts the way consumers relate to e-commerce. User attention becomes an extremely strategic asset and trust gains a greater importance as a currency in e-commerce.
Due to attention and trust being a powerful sales engine, they have become a priority during the customer experience mapping. As mentioned in the linked article, this mapping is essential to improving the purchase journey where we seek to identify friction points that need to be addressed.
Here, we will elaborate on one of the main friction points for those who sell fashion online: doubts about size. It is important to recognize at what point during the sale the doubts about size occur in order to ensure good e-commerce results. Knowing these critical points is one of the ways to improve the business and improve performance indicators. Let’s begin!
Doubts about size: Where do they come from?
For starters, it is important to recognize the main factors that contribute to creating doubts about size. Once that is understood it becomes possible to design strategies that respond to the challenge, either to solve it or to mitigate it.
Since we are talking about the interaction between people, in a way mediated by technology and processes, the motives that generate doubts about size are very diverse. Wouldn’t you agree?
We won’t be able to cover everything but we can definitely anticipate some scenarios that show certain obstacles during the buyer’s journey. Shall we continue?
1. When customers don’t have much experience with the brand and their sizing
Each brand’s clothes has its own size that is generally different from other brands. We included an image on a previous blog post showing the differences between the same number size within different brands, and the fluctuations in their actual measurements were astonishing.
This scenario is even more chaotic when the consumer does not have access to the product’s measurement tables. This will ultimately cause the customer to purchase the incorrect size the first time shopping there.
2. When the brand imports products from different suppliers
This is a very common market practice, but importing products for resale can generate a great challenge in standardizing the measurements of the products. This is due to each supplier having different measurement standards.
These differences can generate major size insecurities in users, causing them not to give much credibility to the brand. Among the many possible consequences of this, is the result of purchase abandonment and cart abandonment. This typically happens when the brand isn’t concerned about solving their customers’ sizing doubts.
3. When customer support isn’t instantly available
It is common for users to have doubts when they are considering the purchase of a product. Many of these questions end up in support chats, and as the internet is a fast-paced channel, people always expect a quick response to their questions.
This means the consumer expects agility, it is practically impossible to be able to offer 24/7 support that is immediate enough to answer questions while the purchase decision is still at stake.
4. When we don’t do something well, maybe others will
In a competitive market such as that of e-commerce, where the competitor probably has the same or very similar product as you, the loss of customers is a real fear. Especially if the competitor has more investment in the product presentation and brand planning.
A great example of this is Miik, a Canadian e-commerce, that installed our Size & Fit Advisor due to the brand’s concern of not being able to deliver quick enough answers to sizing questions. In order to avoid having their customer look elsewhere for something similar in another e-commerce store, our tool was installed. See the video below to hear Miik’s testimonial:
It’s a fair enough concern, don’t you agree?
5. There are many reasons that can cause someone to lose interest in a store
Selling clothes, shoes and accessories online comes with its own dilemas. Few e-commerce companies have the ability to change the direction of their metrics such as, Conversion Rate, Average Ticket or Lifetime Value.
E-commerce sales are already very challenging and no e-commerce manager wants obstacles to arise at the beginning of the customer experience and cause more confusion about the modeling and sizing of the products. This will ultimately make the customer give up on the purchase.
How the Size & Fit Advisor answers questions about size
If you still don’t understand what the Size & Fit Advisor is or how it works, here’s a summary of the Sizebay tool:
The fitting room uses body data (weight, height and age) to estimate seven body measurements for each user. Then the tool asks the client to confirm or customize the distribution of body mass. Finally, the algorithm matches this data with the product measurement tables, offering an ideal size recommendation.
By offering a specific size recommendation and allowing the user to “try-on” the different available sizes the tool adds more confidence in such a critical step, which is the size selection process.
Our tool encourages the customers to finalize their purchase with more confidence, because not only does it provide a size recommendation, but it also respects the users individual preferences for fit. It does so by allowing the person to “try-on” sizes with a slim, regular or oversized fit.
The clothing that benefits the most from our recommendation tool are those that require a more perfect fit or whose materials are more elastic. For example, stores that sell lingerie or clothing with elastane or neoprene.
Therefore, our tool contributes to less customer frustration and a more positive online experience. However, it is important to note that e-commerce attention will always be necessary to ensure the complete user journey is being followed up on. This will allow e-commerce companies to continue to improve in C.R.O aspects, such as page optimization and product presentation.
What are your thoughts on this topic? Were you able to understand how the Size & Fit Advisor helps enrich the customer shopping experience? The most important thing is to hear what they are saying about the experience, and that’s what we’re going to share with you next.
Real customer testimonials about their experience with the Size & Fit Advisor
Aside from being aware of the positive data metrics that the Size & Fit Advisor generates, it is also important to observe how consumers react to the tool in each store.
Therefore, we were very happy to be able to receive feedback and see the difference our tool makes during the buyer’s journey. Check out the testimonials down below:
Did you see how the Size & Fit Advisor can make all the difference in the world during the customer shopping experience? It is able to generate greater confidence in the consumer and, as a result, it provides a better experience when shopping online.
Regardless of the size of the store, it is important to offer strategic and efficient solutions to your customers.
We hope this content has made this subject a little more clear. Until next time!
Lastly, make sure to read the post “How to increase sales in a fashion e-commerce with a Size & Fit advisor” by clicking here.
