Online clothing retailers hunt for better fit to cut costly returns

A fitting model checks out sizes for a shoe which goes on sale at the online shop of fashion retailer Zalando in Berlin.

Models testing fashion brands like Adidas, Benetton and Gap are finding that almost a third of the shoes and clothes they try on are bigger or smaller than the size on the label indicates, explaining why many clothes bought online are sent back.

Calculating sizes more accurately could help online retailers like Germany’s Zalando and Britain’s ASOS cut costly returns and improve customer satisfaction. “If you try on the same brand in a different colour it is sometimes a different size,” Zalando fitting model Savina Bellotto said as she squeezed a foot into a stiletto shoe with a shiny silver buckle that dug into her ankle.