Question handling
Answering what size am I without ever answering it
Nothing else in support has this combination: enormous volume, a direct effect on conversion, and a measurable cost attached to getting it wrong. A returned garment costs the outbound shipping, the return, the handling, sometimes the item, and it is the single largest avoidable expense in online clothing and footwear.
What they are really asking
They want somebody to tell them which size to order so they do not have to buy two and send one back.
- what size am i
- do these run small
- is this true to size
- what size should i order
- i'm between sizes, what should i do
- what are the measurements for a medium
- what's the inside leg on the 32
- does this stretch
- what size is the model wearing
- will these fit a wide foot
The material that answers it
An assistant is only as good as the document behind it, and for this question the document usually exists but is written in the wrong shape. What each one has to contain to be answerable:
| A measurement table in real units, per product where it varies | Chest, waist, hip, length, sleeve, and for footwear the internal length rather than the label size. A single brand wide chart is a starting point and it is wrong for any item cut differently, which in most ranges is several of them. |
|---|---|
| How to measure, written for one person with a tape | Where to measure from and to, whether to measure the body or a garment they already own, and whether to hold the tape snug or loose. The second option is the one that actually gets used, so publish it properly. |
| Fit notes on each product | Runs small, generous through the shoulder, cut for a slim leg, no stretch, sizes up for layering. These sentences exist in the head of whoever buys the range and rarely reach the site. They are the difference between a chart and advice. |
| Model reference | The model's height and the size they are wearing, on every product photograph. It is one line, customers use it constantly as a proxy, and its absence sends people to the chat widget. |
| Returns and exchange terms | How long they have, whether an exchange is free, whether return postage is paid. This belongs in the sizing answer itself, because knowing an exchange is easy is what lets somebody order the size the chart suggests rather than ordering two. |
How to handle it
Move the conversation from the label to the measurement
What size am I is unanswerable, and it is also not what they need. The useful reply asks for a measurement, or points them at a garment they already own and like, and then quotes the chart against it. The whole intent hinges on that redirection.
It also happens to be more accurate than any guess, because a chest measurement is a fact and a size label is a convention that varies between two products in the same shop.
Quote this product's own table
Not the brand chart, not a similar product, not the range average. Sizing varies across items in ways that make an adjacent table actively misleading, and this is precisely the intent where a plausible near match causes a return.
That makes it a good candidate for a cautious setting: better a refusal pointing at the size guide than a confident number from the wrong table.
Answer between sizes with the fit note, never with a guess
This runs slightly small and has no stretch, so people between sizes usually take the larger is a legitimate answer if that sentence is in your material. Take the larger, said by an assistant that inferred it, is a recommendation you did not write and will pay for.
The assistant must never assemble a size recommendation for a specific body from measurements the person has given. That is judgement, it involves preference about how something should fit, and it is not a retrieval task.
Close with the exchange terms
Every sizing reply should end with how easy it is to swap. It converts hesitation into an order, and it sets the expectation properly so a size that is not right becomes an exchange rather than a complaint.
When it stops being an answer
A direct request to pick a size for them
Just tell me which one to order. Sympathetic, and still a judgement about somebody's body and their preference. The assistant should give the measurements, the fit note and the exchange terms, and offer a person for anything more.
Bulk, uniform or team orders
Sizing a group is a different exercise involving samples, a size run and a deadline, and it is usually commercially worth a conversation. Collect the quantity, the deadline and the mix, and hand over.
Anything where fit is a safety or medical matter
Protective equipment, compression garments, footwear for a diagnosed condition, anything where wrong sizing causes harm rather than disappointment. These need a qualified person, and the assistant should say so rather than quoting a chart.
How this one goes wrong
The helpful guess
A customer gives a chest measurement and asks what to order. The assistant, wanting to be useful, names a size. It arrives, it is wrong, and it goes back. Multiply by the number of people who ask this question in a week and the cost of that reflex is substantial.
The subtle part is that the customer asked for exactly this and will be briefly disappointed by a refusal. Do it anyway: quote the table, give the fit note, name the exchange terms. The measured version converts nearly as well and comes back far less often.
The same question, trade by trade
The pattern above holds everywhere. The wording, the escalation line and the material behind it do not, so there is a page per trade.
- For a opticianThe three numbers printed inside the side, why a bridge fits or slides, and the frame a strong prescription rules out.
- For a online storeOne store, a dozen suppliers, a dozen charts that disagree. What size means changes by aisle, and the chart is usually a picture.
- For a fashion retailerA garment measurement is a fact about cloth. Turning it into a prediction about a body is what produces the return.
- For a furniture retailerFitting a piece is more than the doorway. It is the depth you sit at, the door that has to swing and which end the chaise is on.
- For a bike shopHeight puts a rider in a band and no further. Reach and stack move it, which is why a bike fit exists as a service.
Questions
- Can we let it recommend sizes if we accept some returns?
- You can, and the cost is not only the returns. A size recommended in your name and wrong feels like the shop got it wrong, which is a different kind of dissatisfaction from a garment that simply did not suit.
- What is the highest value thing to add to a product page?
- The model's height and the size worn, followed by a fit note in plain language. Both are one line, both are already known internally, and both remove questions that currently arrive in chat.
- Should it use a general brand size chart when a product has none?
- Only if the chart genuinely applies, and it should say which chart it is quoting. Where a product is cut differently the honest answer is that the specific measurements are not published, and a person can check them.
Keep reading
- Handling technical troubleshootingThe dominant failure is an answer taken from the wrong release. A refusal beats a confident step list for software nobody is running.
- Handling setup and onboardingMost product material is written for somebody who already understands it. A first run guide has to be ordered, not merely complete.
- Handling compatibility questionsAnswerable only if you publish a list. Inferring compatibility is the failure, and the price of a wrong yes is a return and a refund.
- Every question typeHandling patterns for the questions every support inbox gets.
Try it on your own material
Upload a document or point it at your site, paste one line of HTML, then ask it something only your business could answer.