Data reveals loss to retailers due to non-size standards

Fits.me’s “forgotten fifth” is a conservative figure based on the 26% of men that are typically uncatered for, and the 21% of women similarly ignored by retailers, caused by retailers avoiding ‘niche’ sizes at either end of the scale.  This typically manifests as low or zero availability of women’s size 6 and below, or 20 and above.

However, Fits.me’s estimate of a “forgotten fifth” is necessarily approximate –because the lack of sizing standards among retailers means that size 6 in one brand may be the same as a size 8 in another. 

To calculate the scale of the “forgotten fifth”, Fits.me averaged the size charts of five major retailers (H&M, Tesco, Zara, M&S and Gap) and compared the results to body measurement data of over 38,000 women and over 118,000 men in the UK, the US, France and Germany that have entered their measurements into a Fits.me Virtual Fitting Room.

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