Being in a plus size body makes it very difficult to find clothes that are form fitting, trendless and age appropriate. The in-store availability of plus-size clothes in sizes 24 and up seems like a mythical creature discovered almost by chance.
Why the online-only option doesn’t work
What straight-size people may not realize is that online-only availability presents its own challenges. For customers to trust online ordering, sizing must be incredibly consistent. Unless you’re comfortable with the possibility of returning everything you buy, you must first be able to build loyalty to your brand.
There is no standardized sizing for women’s clothing between brands, or even items within brands, making online ordering a gamble every time.
Not only that, plus-size people have to plan their entire lives in advance—no last-minute interviews, dinners, events, or even funerals. If the airline loses your luggage while traveling, it can be a nightmare as there is no guarantee that you will find plus-size clothes in stores at your destination.
In a world of online-only availability, you should be able to afford to wait 1-3 weeks to receive your order. And once again, cross your fingers to see if it fits when it arrives!
Brands that ‘tried’ to expand
Marketing is often not enough when larger sizes are available in stores. For example, LOFT and Old Navy. LOFT has removed over 18 sizes in Fall 2021. Less than a year after the “Bod Equality” campaign, Old Navy has removed all sizes of his 4X from stores.
Old Navy also created store “tiers” that allowed some stores to not sell plus sizes and only carry “core sizes.” Both of these brands are great examples of why marketing matters. Because many plus-size shoppers didn’t find out until sizing was completely gone.
Brands that try to increase sizes in-store often don’t give plus-size customers enough time to convert before they pull them out of the store. We need to change the whole thing to reflect the inclusiveness we want our stores to have.
The customers you need to win remember when plus sizes were not included in stores and are unwilling to believe they will stay in stores. It takes time to build.
Let’s talk statistics!
One of the things that is unique to the world of fashion is how many garments are produced for below average size people.only approximately 20% Even though 70% of women in the U.S. are at least a size 16, 70% of the apparel market is aimed at plus size women (Christel et al. 2017).
This has been an issue for years, so it’s very common for plus-size women to not walk into a store if they’re not 100% sure they have their size. People don’t have this hesitation. This is why marketing to plus size people is one of the most important factors in creating a plus size line.
Excluding plus size customers doesn’t make much business sense.According to the Global Plus Size Clothing Market report, the market is It was $480,991.8 million in 2019 and is projected to reach $696,712.1 million by 2027, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9% from 2021 to 2027 doing.
In 2019, casualwear’s plus-size clothing segment accounted for the highest share of the plus-size clothing market. I keep doing it.
final thoughts
Becoming truly committed and more size inclusive takes time, effort, research, and dedication, but that’s the world of fashion. needs to go. Clothing is a basic human need, and the fact that the majority of the population will have to go through hardships to get this need is unacceptable in 2023.
are we alone here? Does it reflect our feelings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!