subject: Shoe Sizing Causing Confusion [print this page] The purchasing of footwear has seen immense changes since the early days of the internet. Before then, you'd go to your local store, find a pair you'd like, try them on, and then if they fitted, purchase them. However when you're ordering online, it's impossible to try them on before buying, so is there any way to ensure you order the right size first time?
Well, unfortunately ,the bad news is, that there doesn't seem to be. With shoes measured in several different ways, based on the country you're in, and with no conversion of shoe> amongst brands, buying shoes online can mean you end up receiving a pair that don't fit as well as they should.
While many online retailers have a size conversion table on their site, very often these charts aren't standard. For example, some brands have a different conversion table than others. Some brands also come up smaller than others, so a specific size in one brand may fit you fine, but the same shoe size in another brand may be too loose or too tight.
Although there is a risk of receiving a pair of shoes that don't fit, ordering online does have many attractions - it's often cheaper than the high street and is extremely convenient. The sheer volume of shoes being ordered over the internet is proof that customers aren't being deterred by shoes not fitting or confusion over the conversion of shoe sizes.
Many shoe websites now offer free exchanges and/or returns to make the returns process as easy as possible for their customers. Exchanges are often the option that retailers prefer as, although they'll be lucky to make even a small profit on the order, once a replacement has been sent, they would rather this than lose all of the proceeds from the original order by having to refund the entire order amount. From a customer point of view, an exchange is often the easiest option too as they can get a pair of shoes that fits, with the minimum of additional work on their part.
For retailers, although a free returns service will undoubtedly mean more returns, many find that the increased conversion rate, as a result of customer confidence in the site, more than outweighs this.
With most brands being sold across the world, the sizing on a box of a shoes can also be complicated. UK, European and US sizing are usually all listed together. With no standardisation of shoe sizes likely to take place across countries or brands in the foreseeable future, it looks like a higher than average returns rate from shoes bought over the internet will remain the case for a long while to come.
