Size and fit questions in a clothing store: what to answer on the product page

01 Why is size the big question when you sell clothes?

Because the shopper can't try it on. In a 2026 Baymard Institute survey of 1,922 US online shoppers, the information apparel shoppers look for most in reviews is size accuracy and fit (48%). After it come quality and durability over time (43%), problems or complaints (40%) and value for the money (36%). Baymard writes that reviews serve shoppers as a substitute for the fitting room.

Another finding from the same survey: only 24% of female and 14% of male apparel shoppers describe themselves as plus-size. So Baymard advises that in stores with extended sizing, finding a size shouldn't depend on the shopper choosing one label for themselves, and that size guidance should help shoppers find their fit however they describe themselves.

Source: Baymard Institute, Apparel & Accessories quantitative UX insights 2026, June 2026. More numbers on what shoppers look for on product pages: product page questions in numbers.

02 Is size the main reason clothes get returned?

According to a survey of US apparel companies, yes: size and fit is the reason they cite most. In a 2023 Coresight Research survey of 100 decision-makers at US apparel brands and retailers, 53% cited size and fit as a reason for online apparel returns. Color (16%) and damage (10%) came next.

In the same report, Coresight estimates the average return rate of online apparel orders in the US at 24.4%, about one order in four, and says that applied to the whole US online apparel and footwear market, this would come to $38 billion in returns in 2023.

Keep two things in mind. The survey asked companies about their returns, not shoppers, and its margin of error is plus or minus 10%. And the report is sponsored by 3DLOOK, which the report describes as an AI technology company that creates 3D models and body measurements from smartphone photos. Source: Coresight Research, The True Cost of Apparel Returns, April 2023.

How to see it in your own store

In Shopify, return reasons vary by product category, and apparel has reasons such as Too big and Too small. They are available in the admin, in POS and in self-serve returns, and Shopify says you can view return reasons in your analytics to spot trends. An item that keeps coming back as Too small is an item whose page should say it runs small. Source: Shopify Help Center, Creating returns and exchanges, checked 26 October 2026.

03 What size information should a clothing product page have?

The item's own measurements, how it fits, and the size the model is wearing. In Baymard Institute's apparel UX benchmark, 83% of apparel sites on desktop and 87% on mobile don't provide sufficient sizing information. These are the things Baymard recommends including, with an example:

Two more points from the same research: the browser's Back button should close the size guide and return the shopper to the product page. And a participant in Baymard's testing was glad to read on a site that a style runs half a size small. A line like that answers what a chart alone doesn't: whether to take your usual size. Source: Baymard Institute, 83% of Apparel Sites Don't Provide Sufficient Sizing Information, July 2022.

04 What do shoppers ask about clothing before they buy?

Questions about size, fit and exchanges. These are the questions worth answering on every clothing page, and what each answer needs:

• Does it run true to size? Whether it runs small, large, or true to size.
• I'm between two sizes. Which one? Which body measurement to go by, and how the two sizes differ.
• What size is the model wearing? Their height, their measurements, and the size they wear.
• How does it fit? Slim, regular or loose, and what fits underneath.
• Will it hold up after washing? The fabric, the care instructions, and whether it shrinks.
• Can I exchange it for another size? Within how long, on what conditions, and who pays the shipping.

Shoppers look for size in product Q&A too. PowerReviews surveyed 7,528 US shoppers in 2021. According to the company, 58% consult Q&A to get a better sense of size, which it notes is particularly relevant for apparel and footwear. It doesn't say whether that is 58% of all respondents or only of those who read Q&A. PowerReviews sells review and Q&A tools to brands and retailers. Source: PowerReviews, Missing product Q&A raises shopper suspicions, August 2021.

05 Example: five answers for one jacket

The jacket, its measurements, the policy and the delivery time here are invented, for the example. Notice that every answer gives a number or a step, not words like perfect or comfortable.

The exchange answer has to match how your store really works

In Shopify's self-serve returns, customers can't request an exchange, and you can't set exchange-specific return rules. You create the exchange in the admin: you add exchange items to the return, and when the new item and the returning item have the same value, the money paid for the returning item is applied to the new one.

So unless a returns app handles exchanges for you, don't write on the page that an exchange takes one click. Write what the shopper actually does: who to contact, what to send, and what happens next. Sources: Shopify Help Center, Setting up self-serve returns and cancellations, Creating returns and exchanges, checked 26 October 2026.

06 Where should the size answers go?

Next to the size selector, because that is where the shopper decides. In practice:

• A size guide link next to the size buttons, as Baymard Institute recommends.
• One line on the fit next to the sizes: true to size, runs one size small, or a loose cut.
• The size chart as text, not only as an image, so it can be read on a phone without zooming in.
• In reviews, fit first: Baymard recommends surfacing what shoppers wrote about fit prominently, giving fit its own score, and encouraging reviewers to share photos and their sizing details.
• The product's FAQ, close to the buy button: size, fit, care and exchanges, in short answers.

Sources: Baymard Institute, 83% of Apparel Sites Don't Provide Sufficient Sizing Information, July 2022. Baymard Institute, Apparel & Accessories quantitative UX insights 2026, June 2026. How to write the questions and answers themselves: product page FAQ.

07 How do you know the answers are working?

Check whether fewer clothes come back over size. In Shopify, a clothing return can carry a reason such as Too big or Too small, and you can view return reasons in your analytics.

1. Find the items that come back most over size, with the reasons Too big and Too small.
2. Fix the page of each one: the size chart, the fit line, and the model's size. If most come back as Too small, say it runs small.
3. Compare equal periods before and after the change. Returns come in some time after the order, so wait for them before you compare.
4. Read what shoppers ask in chat, by email and in the questions they type themselves. A question that keeps coming back is an answer missing from the page.

08 Where BOOX fits

BOOX fits when shoppers stop on a clothing page over a question about size, exchanges or delivery, and the answer is already written on the product page or in your policies. We make BOOX, so here are the details.

• What it does: BOOX shows a popup on the product page with three questions and answers for each product. It writes them with AI from the product page and the store's policies, and you can edit any of them.
• You choose when it shows: after time on the page, after a scroll, or after an add to cart with no checkout, with separate rules for computers and phones. It opens by itself at most once per visit, and never blocks scrolling.
• Every answer ends with an add-to-cart button that takes the shopper to the store's own buy button. Your data shows, per product and per question, how many saw the popup, how many answered, and how many bought after answering.
• Free for up to 50 answers a month. Premium, unlimited: $10 a month, with a 14-day free trial.

When it doesn't: BOOX doesn't measure shoppers, doesn't recommend a size from their body, and doesn't replace a size chart. It writes from your page and policies, so if the page has no written measurements or exchange policy, write those first. If your shoppers need a personal size recommendation, a tool that recommends sizes from body measurements fits better. If your clothes come back over color or damage, the fix is in the photos and the packaging, not in questions. And if shoppers ask very different questions and someone can answer them, a chat may suit you better: ways to answer shoppers.

How BOOX works