During the E-Commerce Brazil Forum, the chat “Standardization of fashion products online took place: are there any initiatives in this regard?”. The E-Commerce Brasil initiative aimed to seek solutions to solve this problem and understand how this is done by Brazilian players.
Advances in anthropometric studies and the application of new standardization rules are necessary in an era of digital business. The Brazilian consumer still finds a great disparity in sizes between garments, and these standards will provide greater assertiveness for the industry and satisfaction for the customer.
The clothing and accessory category was the most sold in 2015 and represents 14% of online purchases in the country. Any effort by the industry to improve the product, will strongly result in this growth, because on average 37% of the abandonment of the cart occurs due to the insecurity of the clothes that do not fit the size.
Conducted by the ABNT / CB-17 Committee with support from the Brazilian Apparel Association (Abravest), the Brazilian Technical Standards Association (ABNT) and Sebrae, the SizeBR survey has the following advantages:
· Facilitate the purchase of national and international consumers
· More economical and sustainable production process for avoiding stock outages
· Less stock out of stock for settlement
· Better trim quality
· Improved consumer comfort
· Unifies the measurement rules from one garment to another
· Facilitates identification of sizes at the time of purchase
· Facilitates sales through e-commerce
· Prevents the consumer from wasting time and money
(Source: Sebrae)
In 2009, ABNT defined the measures for children's clothing and, in 2012, for men's clothing. The stores that adopted the standard started to indicate, in addition to the size, the stature or physical type for which the piece was made. It is estimated that this standardization has increased sales by 40%, in addition to contributing significantly to the drop in the number of complaints.
The research for standardization is being done for women's clothing, with technology that scans the body shapes of several biotypes of women across the country. Conducted by the Chemical and Textile Industry Technology Center of the National Service for Industrial Learning (Senai-Cetiqt). The institution carried out anthropometric studies with more than 7,400 people in the country. The women surveyed receive a special outfit and enter a booth that measures the body in 60 seconds. This new 3D technology, with the effectiveness of this collected data, tends to replace the proof models that do not meet the reality of the population.
ABNT (Brazilian Association of Technical Standards) selected the three most frequent ones to define the measures of each size. Thus, companies can choose the target audience they want to serve and offer clothing in the numbering defined for it. This look at the domestic market is very important, because most of the standards used are still European.
The brands that export in return, need to use these technologies to meet international standards. Obeying all the rules of the destination country. In some specific cases, for example making petit collections for Japan, as does the American jeans brand Seven for all mankind, which realized the needs to serve this large market and adapted the modeling.
The pluz size fashion e-commerce also deserves special attention, this year it is expected to earn 5 million. Today it represents 5% of the clothing sector in the country. The Brazilian population is 48% overweight (Source: Vigitel). This market has been growing in electronic commerce, precisely because it facilitates the purchase with a detailed description of measures and biotypes with a virtual fitting room. Thus gaining the trust and respect of this consumer who felt welcomed and curated by style specialists.
The trim is more important than price, being the second most relevant item in the decision to buy clothing. The product detail page needs to have as much information as possible to increase conversion and improve the user experience. These are the most used:
· Virtual tester to suggest the size, according to the data provided (technology, but still
· Measurement guide
· Image zoom
· Flip images simulating at least five angles
· Product video (increases conversion, but needs to have a lighter resolution in order not to compromise page performance. In addition, videos can be incorporated into social media marketing strategies, especially Instagram)
· Detailed description (Adopting a less technical language, with fancy names for fabrics, for example, can be a good strategy)
It is also worth mentioning that the standardization of sizes in other countries has optimized the sale, reducing the abandonment of carts and also expenses with reverse logistics. In Brazil, however, the diversity of biotype makes the standardization process much more complex. Other variables such as: type of washing to which the clothes' fabrics are submitted, forms of sewing, customer preference when dressing a garment, dyes and even the climate directly influence the standardization of sizes.
For the participants of the Meeting Room, the main challenge (which should be taken as a goal) is to unite the retail brands so that the legislative efforts to standardize sizes are in fact fulfilled, as is already the case in countries such as the United States. Only in this way, in their view, will it be possible to promote a culture of standardization among customers, so that they become familiar with sizes, optimizing the purchase process and reducing noise between retailer and consumer.
Erica Borges, Founder of THE1 Showroom and THE GOAL