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Over half of online UK consumers do not want to pay for returns if sizing is not accurate

Tom Bottomley
18 May 2023

New research carried out on behalf of Japanese sizing specialist Makip, which is now launching its unique Unisize technology in the UK with the aim to slash return rates for retailers, has revealed that 52% of online shoppers are not willing to pay for returning clothes that do not fit.

The rising volume and cost of returns is a problem that has plagued retailers for years, and in 2022 industry research showed that online returns rose to one in three items, costing retailers an average of £20 for every returned package.

That’s driving many retailers to begin charging customers for returns in an attempt to try and offset some of the costs they incur, but the new research says many online shoppers are not prepared to foot the bill for returns if there was no accurate sizing guide available at the time of purchase.

Makip President, Shingo Tsukamoto, commented: “Retailers must improve the accuracy of their online sizing technology if they hope to claw back some of the costs they incur when shoppers return clothing items.

“If retailers can give consumers confidence that the online sizing technology they are using is accurate, they stand to not just reduce the number of items returned, but to improve the customer experience and increase conversion rates.”

Taking just one month to integrate with a customer’s website, Tsukamoto says Unisize can deliver a reduction in clothing return rates of 20% on average, while helping customers get the right-sized items when they shop online.

Makip's sizing solution

Additionally, Makip’s own analysis has shown that providing online shoppers with more accurate sizing options increases the decision to purchase by 2.5 times.

The new research has confirmed the overwhelming majority of UK online shoppers (96%) would purchase clothing if they could be confident that the sizing technology used was accurate, and also if it demonstrated how the clothes would fit on their body - as the Unisize technology does using a combination of questions and data collected from the user.

“It is clear that UK retailers and customers desperately need accurate sizing technology that recognises unique body size requirements. After all, you cannot have a standard size, when there’s no such thing as a standard body,” said Tsukamoto.

However, UK online shoppers do have some sympathy for retailers as the awareness of the environmental impact and cost of returns to retailers increases. When asked whether it's acceptable for retailers to charge for returns given that the majority of returned items cost the retailer more or end up in landfill, half of UK online shoppers (50%) thought it was acceptable.

Tsukamoto added: “Given that 23 million items of returned fashion were sent to landfill or incinerated in the UK in 2022, it is imperative that the industry works hard to help change consumer behaviour and one critical change sits in providing accurate sizing technology.”

The research was commissioned by Makip in March 2023 and surveyed 2,000 UK-based online shoppers to understand their experience of online sizing technology. Respondents to the survey had to have used online sizing technology while shopping online and purchased a minimum of 11 items of clothing online in the past 12 months.

The key objectives of the research were to understand whether UK consumers have any complaints/ concerns about the existing sizing technology on offer, and whether they would accept retailers changing the ‘free returns’ policy to claw back some costs.

Makip counts retailers and brands including Baycrew’s Store, Lacoste, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Barbour and The North Face as Unisize clients in Japan, and is now targeting the likes of Farfetch, Adidas and AllSaints in the UK.

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