Straight to the point
Women’s sizing is notoriously inconsistent, with variations across brands, countries, and even product lines.
For small business owners, this inconsistency can translate into a major hurdle: frustrated customers, high return rates, and lost revenue.
But here’s the good news: a well-crafted size chart can solve many of these challenges to enhance the shopping experience and build trust with your customers.
This guide dives deep into why women’s size charts are crucial for your e-commerce success, what makes a size chart effective, and how you can leverage tools like anthropometric models to perfect the process.
Why Women’s Size Charts Matter in E-Commerce
Imagine this: a customer finds a beautiful dress on your website that she absolutely loves, but she hesitates to click “Add to Cart.”
Why?
Because she’s unsure about the size and how it will fit.
This hesitation is very common in shoppers buying clothing online. Sizing doubts are one of the leading causes of abandoned carts in fashion e-commerce. Worse, when unsure customers don’t abandon their cart but instead order the wrong size, the resulting return or exchange is costly for your business.
The root of this issue lies in the lack of standardization in women’s sizing.
A size 8 in one brand might fit entirely differently from a size 8 in another. This inconsistency makes it hard for customers to make confident purchases and creates a barrier to purchase. Fortunately, a lot of sizing confusion can be resolved with size charts.
By providing accurate, detailed size charts, you can help customers find their perfect fit, while also reducing returns, improving conversions, and boosting overall customer satisfaction.
The Anatomy of an Effective Women’s Size Chart
Size charts are easy to understand – they list sizes and the respective measurements for each of those sizes.
But an effective women’s size chart is more than just a table of numbers.
It’s a communication tool that builds trust and simplifies decision-making. The best size charts include key measurements, visual aids, and clear instructions.
Key Measurements
When developing women’s size charts, you can use body measurements, garment measurements, or both. We recommend prioritizing body measurements as they take into account the nuances of fit and fabric.
An easy example to highlight this is to think of leggings or yoga pants, which are made of stretchy materials. Because these garments are meant to stretch and fit tightly against the skin, their garment measurements are much smaller than the bodies they’re designed to fit. In this case, listing the garment measurements alone won’t be very useful to help shoppers find their size.
For women’s clothing, the most important body measurements are bust, waist, hips, and inseam. These measurements are the universal building blocks of most size charts, but depending on your product line, additional dimensions may be equally important, like:
- Arm Length: Essential for jackets, blouses, and coats to ensure a tailored fit through the sleeves.
- Shoulder Width: Particularly useful for structured tops, blazers, and dresses, where proper alignment can make or break the garment’s fit.
- Torso Length: Crucial for swimwear, bodysuits, and jumpsuits to prevent pulling or sagging in the garment.
- Thigh or Calf Circumference: Important for activewear, jeans, and boots to ensure comfortable movement and proper fit.
Customizing measurements to your product range helps your shoppers feel confident when choosing a size. For instance, if you’re selling dresses, emphasizing bust and waist measurements ensures they’ll know how the dress will fit at critical points.
Including garment-specific measurements not only adds clarity but also sets your brand apart as one that pays attention to detail and customer needs.
Visual Aids
A well-crafted size chart is much more effective when paired with visual aids. Illustrations, diagrams, or photos showing customers how to measure themselves can make things much easier. After all, even a straightforward term like “waist” might mean different things to different people.
A good diagram should:
- Highlight Specific Areas: For example, use arrows or labels to pinpoint the fullest part of the bust, the narrowest part of the waist, and the widest part of the hips.
- Indicate Starting and Ending Points: Clearly show where a measuring tape should begin and end for accurate results.
- Be Simple and Easy to Read: Use clean lines, minimal text, and a focus on clarity over artistic design.
Clear Instructions
Beyond visual aids, it’s also wise to include clear measurement instructions since not all customers know how to measure themselves. Simple and straightforward instructions can make sure shoppers understand the visual aids.
Make sure it’s easy for users to understand instructions. Instead of saying, “Measure your waist” try, “Wrap the measuring tape around the narrowest part of your waist, typically just above your belly button, and ensure the tape is snug but not tight.”
You may also want to include additional instructions, like “If you’re in between sizes, we recommend sizing up for a more comfortable fit,” or “For garments with stretch, choose the smaller size if you prefer a snug fit.”
How to Present Women’s Size Charts for Maximum Impact
Even the most detailed size chart won’t help if customers can’t find it. Placement and design play a critical role in usability.
Optimal Placement
The ideal spot for a size chart is on the product page, close to the size selection button. This ensures customers have all the information they need at the decision-making stage.
A dedicated “Size Guide” page linked in your site’s main navigation can also be helpful for shoppers who want to get an idea of sizing before diving into specific products.
Mobile Optimization
With the majority of e-commerce traffic coming from mobile devices, your size chart must be mobile-friendly.
Use responsive design to ensure text and images are clear and easy to navigate on smaller screens.
Read more: How the Mobile Experience of Your Online Store Affects Sales
Engaging and Clear Design
Detailed size charts are helpful, but too much detail can be confusing. Overly complex charts with too much information can overwhelm customers and make it harder for them to find their size. Strike a balance between clarity and comprehensiveness, and avoid cluttered size charts.
Use a clean layout with plenty of white space, and consider incorporating interactive elements, like a size calculator. Keep the language concise, and prioritize readability.
Tips for Size Charts Success
Here are some tips to help you create effective size charts:
1. Keep Charts Specific
Many e-commerce fashion brands and stores mistakenly use generic size charts for their products. Instead of trying to create a universal chart for all your products, tailor your size charts to specific categories and styles.
For example, the fit and measurements for formal dresses will be very different from those for activewear or outerwear.
Break down measurements into precise areas like bust, waist, hips, inseam, or even sleeve and torso lengths if applicable. Include notes on how the garment is meant to fit, whether that’s relaxed, fitted, or oversized, to help customers choose appropriately.
Finally, consider adding fit guidance based on fabric stretch, material composition, and the type of silhouette (e.g., A-line, bodycon, or flowy). The more specific you can be in your size charts, the lower the chances are of customers ordering the wrong size.
2. Remember International Customers
Sizing standards vary widely across the globe, and failing to address these differences can alienate international shoppers.
If you sell internationally, include conversion charts for commonly used sizing systems, such as US, UK, EU, and Asia, and clearly explain how to interpret the information. For instance, highlight nuances like half-sizes or country-specific naming conventions (e.g., Italy’s numeric system for womenswear).
It’s also a good idea to explain which sizing system your brand primarily follows. For example, state: “Our size chart is based on US measurements, but conversions to UK, EU, and Asian sizing are provided for reference.” Additionally, include measurements in both imperial and metric units to ensure accessibility for shoppers worldwide.
But remember that, ultimately, the most important thing about your women’s size charts is providing accurate measurements.
3. Ask for Customer Feedback
Your customers are a great resource for improving your size charts!
Encourage reviews that specifically mention fit and sizing. Implement post-purchase surveys asking whether the item matched the expected fit or if adjustments were needed. Analyze return data carefully – if a particular size or product sees frequent returns due to sizing, that’s a clear indicator of room for improvement.
Another strategy is to engage directly with customers through email or social media to gather insights. For example, ask: “Did the size you ordered fit as expected?” or “Was our size chart helpful in making your choice?”
By showing customers that their feedback is valued and used to improve their experience, you build trust and loyalty.
4. Regularly Update Your Size Charts
Fashion trends change, and so do body shape preferences and fit standards.
As your product line evolves, make it a priority to revisit and update your size charts. Also take into account any relevant feedback you’ve received from your customers to make sure your size charts are useful for them.
Additionally, stay ahead of trends by monitoring industry shifts. If wide-leg pants or oversized blazers are surging in popularity, your charts should adapt to account for these design details.
Regularly updating your size charts ensures they remain accurate, relevant, and aligned with customer expectations. In the same way, introducing new products or collections to your e-commerce store also requires developing new size charts.
Going Beyond Women’s Size Charts
Size charts are extremely useful to help shoppers find their size, but they shouldn’t be the only tool available in your store. Because no matter how detailed, clear, and user-friendly your size charts are, they’re useless if shoppers don’t have a measuring tape!
If your budget allows for it, consider adding a size recommendation tool to your online store. These tools leverage AI and machine learning, and give shoppers a more personalized way to find their perfect fit – without requiring them to take any measurements.
Size recommendation tools ask users to input data, typically their height, weight, and age, to provide them with a size recommendation. Unlike static size charts, these tools adapt to individual customer profiles, accounting for variations that traditional measurements might miss.
By offering a size recommendation tool alongside your size chart, you provide your shoppers with the ultimate shopping experience. They’re especially helpful for first-time buyers who are unfamiliar with your sizing. Incorporating size recommendation technology shows your commitment to innovation and meeting diverse customer needs.
Getting Sizing Right
Investing in an accurate, detailed women’s size chart is one of the easiest things you can do to improve your store’s performance. It’s not just about reducing returns or increasing conversions, but most importantly about improving the experience of shopping on your website.
Women’s size charts are one of the ways to make more sales once people have landed on your website. But before that, you need to get people to visit your website! And for that, you need to market your store.
If you need ideas for how to market your online fashion store, make sure to check out our introduction to fashion e-commerce marketing.
