Suffering through ill-fitting clothes, scratchy materials, and shipping costs may sway you to stick to your current closet rather than hunt through countless sites. However, now that many dressing rooms are closed, online shopping offers an experience similar to being in the store, without the concerns of social distancing. Below are some tips to enhance the digital shopping experience.
1. Know your measurements and check for size charts
The biggest concern for online clothes shopping is usually the fit, because sizes vary greatly depending on the brand. To skirt the issue, take your measurements beforehand and check the size chart. Some sites’ size charts even tell you exactly where and how to measure your body, so you start with accurate information.
2. Read the reviews
Reviews can can attest to the durability of the clothes, the condition they arrived in, their comfort, and often how true they are to the size chart. Some reviews also include pictures from customers.
3. Check the material
This tip may not be intuitive for first-time online shoppers because material is easy to access in a store, but checking the fabric is important to determine the fit, look, and texture of the clothing. Knowing what a piece of clothing is made of helps you consider how the clothes will shrink, stretch, and feel when you wear them.
4. Try to find free shipping
Many online stores offer free shipping if you spend more than a certain amount of money. Buy the clothes you need all at once, and you won’t lose your shirt on shipping costs.
5. Filter your results
Online stores tend to offer more options than brick-and-mortar places because there is no storage limit. The vast amount of choices can be overwhelming. Most sites offer filters that can narrow your search by size, style, cost, and so on and make your shopping experience more efficient.
6. Read the return policy
Even with these tips in mind, the clothes you buy online may just not work for you. And that’s okay — if you know the return policy. Just make sure to send back any unwanted clothes in the given time. If a store doesn’t allow returns, consider looking elsewhere. You can often find a link to the return policy at the bottom of any page on the site.
7. Save time to ship
It could take about three weeks for the clothing to reach you — longer if you’re shopping internationally. Normally, this isn’t a big deal; just remember not to buy the dress you need for your friend’s wedding the day before the event.
Featured image: anon_tae / Shutterstock
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Comments
The biggest concern for online clothes shopping is usually the fit.I always check out the reviews to know real people’s thoughts about the cloth. Thanks for sharing these tips. Now I will keep all of them in my mind while I am shopping.
I find it helpful when you said that I should check the fabric’s material before buying a piece of clothing online to know what it would look like or how the texture would feel like. That’s excellent advice for me because I plan to buy some new shorts online soon since I’ll be going on a beach trip with my friends in a month. I’ll take note of this advice because I prefer online shopping than going to physical stores nowadays.
This is helpful shopping information that I’ll forward to a couple of ladies I know that have had some of the online difficulties you address here. As for myself, I really like the Asian model in the top Shutterstock photo, Zoe.