The 2022 online holiday shopping season has come to an end, but. Covid-19 lingers, leaving its strain on e-commerce supply chains and fulfillment networks worldwide. While online shopping has seen a great increase during the pandemic, the number of items being returned has grown accordingly.
The apparel industry has been hit particularly hard by the Coronavirus pandemic with stores closed for months, headline-grabbing bankruptcies, and changing consumer buying habits. Brands like Nike and Decathlon have deployed new online tactics, tapping into omnichannel marketing to expand their online presence and grow their eCommerce platforms. While retailers’ online presence will become a portal for brands to interact with their consumers, the brick-and-mortar store will remain critical, handling behind-the-scenes tasks like managing the supply chain. But where does this leave customers plagued with the biggest issue facing the online apparel industry today – returns, returns, returns?
IS FREE SHIPPING WORTH THE COST?
Free shipping both ways have encouraged consumers to order multiple sizes of apparel items to ensure one fits them, and the others are returned. In addition, size charts vary from brand to brand, one user’s size “M” in one brand, maybe an “S” in another brand, and it is this lack of clarity that clouds consumer confidence to choose a size that will fit them individually.
This practice is even encouraged by none other than the largest online retailer – Amazon. Amazon’s Prime Wardrobe service actively encourages shoppers to “try before you buy” and shop in three easy steps with “free and easy returns”. From the retailer’s side, this service forces brands to manufacture many more items than they actually sell in order to feed and satisfy customers’ wasteful shopping habits.
PERSONALISED WITH MYSIZEID, REDUCE RETURNS AND COSTS
MySizeID has pioneered a return-reducing technology solution for online apparel retailers that accurately match a shopper’s personal measurements with the brand’s size chart and have been proven to reduce returns by as much as 50%.
During a two-month pilot with Boyish Jeans, a sustainable women’s denim line, MySizeID made size recommendations to the brand’s customers, resulting in a 31% reduction of returns. This pilot also successfully increased user engagement dramatically, with over 75% of the size recommendations provided to guest users. Turkey’s Penti brand reduced returns from online sales by 50% for apparel items where MySizeID made size recommendations.
Literally, any brand that today relies on traditional size charts to sell apparel online, is faced with a consumer base that is apprehensive and uncertain about size purchases online. This leads to return rates of 40%, increased operational costs related to shipping and restocking, inexact inventory ordering, and let’s not forget all of the waste that ends up in landfills.
