top of page

Size and Fit Research Project

Matches

Overview

The objective for this project was to find out how we could improve our Size and Fit information in order to reduce return rates. This meant exploring how we could improve the information on our product pages and our internal processes. 

Role

UX Designer

Platforms

Web

Skills

User research methodologies
Interviewing
Focus groups
Service Design (using Sketch)
Presenting

The Problem

Customers are returning high quantities of product due to inaccurate size and fit information.

The Outcome

I designed a service design blueprint that clearly shows where the pain points are in the business regarding size and fit and what the route causes are. It shows, that if we fix problems further back in the process other areas will be improved as a result.  

Analytics

I spoke to our Digital Analytics Manager to find out how customers were engaging with the size and fit information and how this affects return rates.

The questions I asked were:
 

  • How many users click on the size guide at the top, and the size & fit accordion?

  • Is there a correlation between looking at the size guide and purchasing/returning?

  • Do different countries return more or less?

Screenshot 2023-10-03 at 10.16.56.png

Competitor analysis

From doing competitor analysis I saw some innovative shopping carousels. Here are a few examples.


I pointed out 'It instills an impulse to buy from fear of missing out, and helps with purchase decisions as you can see what is trending'.

Analytics results

  • Most people selected a size and then simply returned their item(s) compared to those who looked at the size guide first.

  • On average, people clicked on the size guide twice before purchasing.

  • More people clicked on the size guide at the top and purchased (104,281), than people who click on the size guide and then size and fit (25,239).

  • In the last three months more people returned from Hong Kong, then Russia, UAE, Poland, Sweden, Greece etc.

  • 13,000 people clicked on ‘View this item’s measurements' in the last 3 months before buying out of 12 million, which isn’t very much considering it was over the Christmas period.

Guerilla interviews

I did some guerilla interviews with passersby to find out ​what kind of items people find most difficult to buy and whether measurements are important to them.

I interviewed around 5 men and 5 women and asked these questions:
 

  • ‍What measurements are most important to you when buying trousers?

  • What kind of items do you find most difficult to buy online in terms of size and fit?

  • Do you ever look at an item’s measurements on any site?

Size advice and measurement comparison

I wanted to compare the size suggestions and measurements provided by us and our direct competitors, to see if the Matches advice is significantly different.

To do this, I created a table displaying a list of different items, with the sizing advice and measurements for each.

I compared these companies: Matchesfashion, Net A Porter, Farfetch, Browns, Selfridges, and Mytheresa.

Types of measurements

I also wanted to see how the types of measurement given, compared between us and our competitors.​

 

To do this, I looked at 5 different types of clothing and compared the measurement types given by these companies: Matchesfashion, Farfetch, Net A Porter, Burberry, Mytheresa, J Crew, Zara, Uni Qlo, and H&M.

Screenshot 2023-10-03 at 11.19.23.png

Geo-targeted size selectors

I also wondered whether countries show size groups depending on the country customers are buying from. 

I did a benchmarking analysis across 9 companies, by changing the country I was shopping from and seeing if the size group changed.

 

I compared: Matchesfashion, Farfetch, Net A Porter- Burberry, Mytheresa, J Crew- Zara, Uni Qlo, and H&M.

Size selector results

  • MyTheresa and H&M were the only companies to change their size range

  • MyTheresa includes the size range the item is being bought in, plus the country conversion, in the same drop down

  • H&M changes the size drop down completely to show the new country sizing
    ‍
    Our customer services team think that Mytheresa’s method would be best because customers don’t like converting sizes.

Customer Service team focus group

 I decided it would be worth speaking to the Customer Service team, to see what feedback they were getting in regards to size and fit queries.

 

Myself and the UX Lead conducted a focus to understand how our customers interact with them. We also did an Affinity Map exercise at the end of the session. These are the types of questions we asked:
‍

  • What do our customers think about the sizing? (Options/display)

  • What are their pain points?

  • How do our customers interact with you?

  • Why do items get returned?

  • Can you tell us anything about how returns vary by country?

  • Which items get returned the most?

Customer Service team feedback

  • Wrong information is being uploaded on to PDP pages

  • Sizes on the guide don’t apply to what’s on the item label

  • Brands with their own size range are not included in the size guide table so you can’t convert

  • Measurements on the website are not the same as the brand measurement information

  • The vendor colour code is not written on the PDP which customers would like to see, to make sure they are buying the right product

  • Sometimes UK sizing isn’t even on the size guide

  • It takes a long time to hear back from the Size and Fit team in the DC when they need something remeasured

  • Jewellery grams are not always correct on the PDP because we cannot weigh jewellery in the DC as there is no scale

  • Ring sizes such as 1, 2, 3 are not helpful to customers

  • Size chart needs to be clearer

  • Would be great to be able to use brand measurements

  • Nobody wants to have to convert anything

  • They think MyTheresa’s split size drop down is a good idea

Private Shopping team focus group

Next, I conducted a focus group with our Private Shopping team, along with the Product Manager of this project.

We wanted to find out how the Private Shopping team interact with top tier customers to sell them the latest items.

To do this, we conducted a 30 minute interview with 3 people from the Private Shopping team.


These are the types of questions we asked:
 

  • How do you work out if an item will fit your client?

  • How do your clients interact with you?

  • What do you think about the sizing and measurement information we give?

  • How does the sizing affect the private shopping experience?

  • How often do items get returned even though you are helping them with their shopping?

Private Shopping team feedback

  • Bracelets not easy to sell because size details on PDP don’t specify what size it relates to e.g. S,M,L

  • It’s hard for the tech team to change the PDP layout/add info quickly

  • Impossible for them to know size information the same day from the DC, but one Private Shopper said she get’s information quickly so maybe it depends on who you speak with

  • Raey (our in-house brand) changed their usual fit, so it was hard to fit a client recently. More communication from Raey would be best then? It needs to be clear on website that Raey comes up big and to go down two sizes

  • Sometimes models do not wear the correct sizing if stock is low e.g. they may be wearing shoes that are too small for them. This gives a bad representation on the website and customers notice, and sometimes model images are uploaded without being retouched

  • If certain products do not have full sizing info Private Shoppers do not suggest or ship them to a client, so we are potentially missing out on sales

  • One Private Shopper said it’s strange that men’s shoes have more sizing information than women's. This should be the same for both. She said this is a big issue for her

  • Most clients (from all Private Shoppers we spoke to) need bigger sizes than we offer

  • It would be helpful to educate customers about trends on PDPs, such as how to wear oversized items and what size to order to get the look.

Distribution Centre focus group

Finally, I went to Distribution Centre to understand how our products are measured. I went with the Product Manager to our DC to find out how the Size and Fit team measure items and why.

Here are some of the questions we asked:
 

  • How do you measure items?

  • Do you ever use brand measurements?

  • If not, why don't we use brand measurements?

  • What happens when the Customer Service team request measurements?

  • Do you compare the measurements you've taken with our competitors?

  • Do you measure absolutely everything? E.g. shoes, bags, jewellery etc.

  • Do you offer sizing suggestions or do those come from another team? How can we make your job easier?

Distribution Centre feedback

  • Not all shoe sizes are measured, just small and large but they want to be able to measure middle sizes and are working with tech to make this happen

  • They’d like to be able to change app measurement columns e.g. being able to remove the sleeve length column if they are measuring a sleeveless top. Otherwise they have to put '0' in

  • They would like scanners for efficiency so systems can register products, to make the process more seamless as their goal is to measure 200 items per day

  • They don’t really use brand sizing for a number of reasons: The brand may say 38 but we have measured 40. Brands don’t always give measurements but this is something that the Buying team can request. Brands may use different manufacturers to make the same item so sizing will vary slightly​

  • Some things get sized by the studio during a shoot as it’s just faster but these are mainly accessories and homeware

  • They allow for human error which is 1 1/2cm

  • The studio offers size and fit suggestions because they work with the models, so they can see how things fit them

  • Fit predictors would be beneficial. Or at least, something which helps suggest your size based on past purchases so we can learn your style. For example some women like to buy tighter clothing and some buy a size up to make it look oversized

Presentation of results

In order to bring all this information together, I thought it would be a good idea to create a Service Design Blueprint to show the source of each problem.

 

Then, as a company we can help smooth out the processes in these areas in order to produce a more positive output (lower return rates and improve customer satisfaction) in the future.

627ac44a7ac18ce0090a7ced_Screenshot 2022-05-10 at 20.59.43-p-1080.png

Project success

I presented this to the CTO, and 10 Product Managers and the feedback was very positive.

As a result, my Service Design Blueprint was sent to the Product Team to be used to help improve areas in the business.

Screenshot 2020-03-30 at 14.23.47.png

Previous

Next

bottom of page