Size Recommendations in Online Fashion Retail - Opportunities and Challenges

Drawing on our existing research (Peng et al, 2016; Vecchi et al., 2014, 2015,2016; Vecchi and Buckley, 2016), e-Size is a research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, exploring how online fashion retailers can utilise innovative technology to give consumers the ability to match their size and find the perfect fitting garment. By assessing the implementation and the deployment of novel yet existing software applications that capture body measurements and provide accurate garment size recommendations, in an online menswear retailer, the e-Size project aims to improve shopper satisfaction, increase fashion garments’ online sales, and reduce product return rates. The key objectives of the research being - to further develop an existing software application aimed at producing accurate body measurements in close collaboration with an online fashion retail partner; to enhance the retailers customers’ satisfaction by improving the quality of their online shopping experience; to focus on user experience testing to contribute to the development of the user experience; to critically evaluate the opportunities and the challenges that are associated with the deployment and implementation of such novel software application for the retailer and for the broader fashion industry; to contribute to the reduction of the economic and environmental impact associated with garments’ returns due to their poor fit. More specifically, this project focuses on user experience testing - observing how customers interact with the size recommendation application, integrating feedback from customers into the sizing information provided by the application, providing guidance on improving the user experience of the application, and thereby the online shopping experience, and integrating feedback on the garment information into the retailer’s operations. The keys to this are the quality of the measurement data from the retailer,, overall user satisfaction with the online experience, accuracy of the personal information provided by the user, and the effectiveness of the size recommendation application in matching body and garment measurements so the consumer can find the best fitting clothing size. This paper consists of four sections. The first section outlines the literature review, the second section describes the methodology adopted. While the third section highlights the preliminary findings of the research, the final section illustrates the conclusion, the limitation of the application in its current state and directions for further research