Boom in online sales could lead to “record” returns this festive season

Outdated sizing guides and sizing errors are likely to lead to a boom in online returns following the 2020 festive season, with clothing set to account for 75% of returns and footwear 25%, uSizy has warned.

The “mammoth consumer shift to online shopping” seen in 2020 could herald “record” losses for retailers who lacked the technology to “predict, prevent and optimise their returns” this year, the e-commerce size recommendation and prediction solution said.

Existing sizing guides were “failing to consider” many aspects of the user experience, “perhaps most blatantly, that shoppers often don't know their own measurements,” uSizy said.

“Amid the progress made in refining online shopping experiences, it seems obsolete that traditional size guides remain commonplace when retailers risk losing their customers at the most critical point in the online shopping process: size selection,” it added.

Used by a number of UK fashion and footwear brands such as Dr Martens, Fitflop and Beulah, uSizy’s Size Adviser technology  was “increasing overall conversion rates by 25% and reducing returns rate by 29% on average for over 400 online brands uSizy chief executive and founder Iñaki García said.

“By addressing customers with a bespoke, personalised size recommender, online retailers can boost repeat sales by 10% to reinforce customer loyalty.

"With increased confidence in the purchasing process, the buying decision time of users also decreases by 20% and the average cart size increases by 10%.

“These are game-changing improvements as the e-commerce landscape becomes increasingly competitive," García added.