A size guide is just one example among a range of auxiliary features that could add real value to your eCommerce site, depending on what type of products you sell.It is a particularly helpful tool if you are an online clothing retailer that ships overseas, as size standards differ from country to country. For instance, a size 10 skirt in the UK is actually size 6 in the US and size 38 in France, Spain and Portugal.
But just by providing a simple size guide, your customers can shop in confidence, knowing that they have the information directly at their disposal to help them avoid mistakes and minimise the risk of having to make a return.
Even if you only target your own home market, a size guide is nevertheless a useful feature to any site that sells shoes or items of clothing, as it makes the shopping experience richer and more interesting and helps customers to make more informed purchases.
A size guide can be static or interactive and appear in a popup window, in a dropdown menu or on a separate page. If you are limited to showing all your sizing conversions on a single page or in a single window, then structure the guide so that shoppers can quickly scan to find the table directly relating to the product they’re interested in.
However, it is much better if you can show only the sizing information that is directly relevant to that product. For example, if someone wants to double-check that they’re buying the correct pair of men’s shoes, then there’s no real benefit in showing them all your other size information – such as women’s bra sizes, men’s trouser sizes and children’s shoe sizes – all at the same time.
Consider what you could do with your own product offering to improve the shopping experience. The following are typical examples of features that shoppers can find really useful:
You could go even further by integrating a range of useful tools, such as the product comparison tables mentioned above, directly into your individual product details pages. The following are the types of features that you can expect to find on many of the more successful eCommerce sites:
Even minor enhancements to something as simple as a size guide can do wonders for your sales conversion rate:
A great way to decide what features you should include in your eCommerce site is to look at how your competitors do it. Look at their sites from the perspective of a potential customer and decide what aspects of it you like or don’t like. Then use this as a starting point to draw up your own design.