What is size bracketing in ecommerce?

Size bracketing is when a shopper orders the same item in multiple sizes with the intention of returning whichever ones don't fit. It's one of the most common and most preventable drivers of high return rates in apparel and footwear ecommerce.

How do I know if size bracketing is affecting my return rate?

Look for same-SKU, same-order line items in your returns data, orders where the same product in multiple sizes appears in one transaction. If 10% or more of your returns follow this pattern, size bracketing is a significant driver. Return reason codes for "wrong size," "too large," or "too small" on items ordered more than once in the same transaction are another clear signal.

Why don't better size charts fix the problem?

Size charts measure garments, not people. They also don't account for how sizing varies across brands or for individual fit preferences. A shopper who knows they're a medium in one brand has no reliable way to use a size chart to figure out what size they are in a different brand. That's the information gap that drives bracketing.

What actually reduces fit-related returns?

Interventions that happen before the order is placed, at the size selection moment on the product page. Personalized size recommendations based on real purchase and return outcomes from similar shoppers, calibrated across brands, give the shopper a confident single recommendation rather than leaving the decision to them. Moosejaw reduced overall size bracketing rates 24% in one year using this approach. APL reduced fit-related returns by 15%.

How does True Fit reduce size bracketing?

True Fit's Fashion Genome is built on real purchase and return outcomes from 80 million+ shoppers across 91,000+ brands. When a shopper reaches the size selector, True Fit recommends the right size based on what similar shoppers actually bought and kept, not on self-reported measurements or static size charts. Moosejaw used True Fit to detect multi-size cart behavior in real time and trigger fit guidance at that exact moment, resulting in a 24% decline in bracketing rates over one year.

What is the real cost of an apparel return?

Most retailers calculate return cost as the refund plus shipping. The full cost runs higher once you account for processing and inspection labor, repackaging, restocking delay, markdown risk on items that can't go back to full price, and environmental impact. Reducing the number of returns has a significantly higher ROI than improving the returns process.

True Fit's 2023 Holiday Shopping Insights Unwrapped

January 11, 2024

‘Muted’ Golden Quarter fashion sales were buoyed by a Black Friday boost to order volumes, while fashion revenues rose +6% compared to 2022 in December, the latest data from True Fit, the leading AI platform that decodes size and fit for consumers and apparel and footwear retailers.

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True Fit’s Fashion Genome™, the world’s largest connected data set for apparel and footwear, which brings together the preferences of 82 million active shoppers and 20,000+ brands, showed that while demand (order volumes) fell marginally year-on-year in December, overall demand during Peak Trading was bolstered by Black Friday and Cyber 5, the period which covers Thursday, November 23rd through Cyber Monday, the 27th.

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Order volumes of apparel and footwear fell by -7% year-on-year in December. However, those who did place fashion orders were spending more during the Golden Quarter (Q4), with fashion revenues up +10% in October, +12% in November and +6% in December. Meanwhile Average Order Value (AOV) also grew 11% compared to 2022 in Q4. Discounting events, such as Black Friday played a key role in generating demand during Peak Trading; True Fit’s data showed order volumes on the week of Black Friday (w/c November 19th through the 25th) rose +14% year-on-year, as price-sensitive shoppers sought out deals.

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Jessica Arredondo Murphy, Co-Founder & COO at True Fit, commented: “Discounting will, of course, remain a key lever in securing share of wallet while household spending remains squeezed. With a muted economic outlook, this will continue past Peak Trading and into 2024, making margin protection a key consideration for retailers in 2024.”

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“With our research suggesting the average UK shopper returns almost a quarter of the fashion items they buy, retailers will need to look towards strategies that protect margin to drive growth. This will rely not just on limiting unnecessary fit-related returns, but also on leveraging strategies to retain customers acquired during discounting periods and sales events, turning first time shoppers who have bought at discounted prices into repeat, full-price customers in 2024.”

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Demand for fit guidance also rose during Peak Trading, up +60% month-on-month in November and increasing by +122% during BFCM compared to the first week in November. Over BFCM, True Fit saw 2.4 million new shopper registrations, while December saw True Fit registrations rising +20% between the week of Christmas and the last week in December, with December 26th 2023 being the biggest grossing day for new sign-ups.

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