Sizes and colours that don't confuse buyers: a checklist for online clothing sellers

A buyer opens your co-ord set. The size row reads L, XXL, M. There is no XL. She picks the brown colour and the photo still shows the blue one. None of this is a big mistake on its own, but together it says 'this shop is not careful', and a careful shop is exactly what someone paying online before seeing the product wants.

These problems almost never come from carelessness. They come from how stock really arrives: a size sells out before you list it, a colour is restocked later than the rest, a new batch is typed in a different order than the last one. Here is how to set sizes and colours up so the product page stays clear no matter how messy the stockroom is.

Why size and colour mistakes cost sales

• A missing size looks like an error, not a sell-out. If a buyer sees M, L and XXL, she wonders whether XL exists at all — and whether your size chart can be trusted.
• A jumbled size row slows every buyer down. People read sizes left to right, smallest to largest. Out of order, they have to stop and search.
• A size that silently switches the colour causes returns. If tapping 32 quietly changes the jeans from black to blue, some buyers will not notice until the parcel arrives.
• The wrong photo for a colour is the fastest route to 'not as shown'. A buyer who picks pink and sees blue will either leave or order and return.

The set-up checklist

• List every size in the run, even the ones you have sold out of — mark them out of stock instead of leaving them out
• Keep sizes in their natural order: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL, 3XL, or 26, 28, 30, 32 for waist sizes
• Use one spelling across the store: either XXL or 2XL, not both
• Give each colour its own photos, taken in the same light as the rest
• Name colours the way buyers say them — 'dusty pink', not 'shade 4'
• Keep the stock count on each size and colour, not one count for the whole product
• Link a size chart with real measurements, not just S/M/L

Show sold-out sizes — don't hide them

It feels natural to delete a size once it sells out. Don't. A run of S, M, L, XL where XL is struck through tells the buyer three useful things: the product does come in XL, you are being honest about stock, and it may come back. A run of S, M, L that stops short tells her nothing, and she may assume the product simply runs small.

The same goes for a size you never received. If a design is made in M to XXL but your supplier skipped XL this batch, list XL as sold out. The size row stays complete, the buyer sees it was a stock gap, and you can switch it back on the day the restock lands.

When a colour doesn't come in every size

Mixed runs are normal: the black jeans in 28 and 30, the blue in 32 and 34. The product page should make that obvious, not confusing. When a buyer has picked black, sizes 32 and 34 should look unavailable in black, and tapping them should keep black selected and say it is not available — not quietly jump to blue.

If you sell on a page that does switch colours behind the buyer's back, consider listing the two colours as separate products until it is fixed. One clear product is better than one confusing one.

Photos for every colour

1. 1

   Shoot each colour, not just the hero

   Every colour a buyer can pick needs at least one photo of that colour. Hang them on the same hanger, against the same wall, in the same light, so the only thing that changes between photos is the colour itself.

2. 2

   Attach the photos to the colour, not to each size

   Upload a colour's photos once, against the colour. Every size in that colour then shows the right photos without you uploading four copies.

3. 3

   Fill the gaps before you go live

   Before announcing a product, tap through every colour on the product page from your phone. Any colour that shows another colour's photo needs a shoot — or a clear note until it gets one.

How Slaby handles this On a Slaby store, sizes always show in their natural order however you typed them, sold-out sizes are struck through, and picking a size never changes the colour the buyer chose. In the admin, the product editor warns you when a size is missing from the middle of a run and adds it as sold out in one click, and the colour photos section lists any colour that still has no photo of its own.

Keep stock counts on each size and colour

A product-level count ('12 left') is not enough once you sell sizes. The buyer cares whether her size is left. Keep the count on each size of each colour, and let a sale or a counter bill reduce that exact one. It is also what lets the store strike a size through the moment its last piece sells, instead of after a disappointed buyer messages you.

If you change a size's name later — say 'Free Size' becomes 'Fits up to XL' — make sure its count moves with it rather than starting again from nothing. Recounting a rack you already counted is the kind of job that eats a whole afternoon.

Common questions

Should I list a size I may never restock?

If the design is made in that size and other colours still have it, yes — mark it sold out. If the design will never come in that size at all, leave it out, but keep the run continuous: don't skip a size in the middle.

What about free-size and 'fits up to' products?

Use one clear label such as 'Free Size' or 'Fits up to XL' and add the measurements in the size chart. There is no series to complete, so there is nothing to show as sold out.

XXL or 2XL — which is better?

Either, as long as the whole store uses the same one. Mixing XXL on one product and 2XL on the next makes buyers wonder whether they are different sizes.

Do sold-out sizes hurt how my store looks?

No — they help. A complete size row with a few struck-through sizes looks like a shop with real stock and honest counts. A row with holes looks like a listing mistake.

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