Retail Sizing Rant

[PistolPete]

Can somebody explain the following to me who is in the retail clothing business because for the life of me I cannot figure it out/must be missing something. Why are retail/athletic clothing stores always sold out of the most common sizes and always have the xxl, xs and s sizes remaining. Whenever I go into a clothing story time and time again I ask for either medium or large and they simply say we are sold out. I then ask them why not order more medium, larges and less of the less common sizes...their response over and over again is a shrug of the shoulders (actually had one manager say that, that was a great idea and he was going to look into it )...Same goes for common shoes sizes with 9-12's always being sold out. Am I missing something? Are retailers constrained by how many they order in a certain size i.e. if you order 10 medium you need 10 of each size up to xxl? Or has the common sense of just ordering more of the common sizes (which always get sold out) and less of the less popular sizes (which always are left over and have to be severely discounted) just completely alluded them???

[northernpro]

Re: Retail Sizing Rant

Clothing orders for softgoods are placed well in advance of the 'season'
(up to 6 months)..the wholesaler builds some backup stock into the
equation..but when its gone..its gone..if you really like something
you better step up & buy it ie.Puma

[Jeffc]

Re: Retail Sizing Rant

I ranted about this a few years ago. You would think they would have figured this out by now. e.g. they should know, in golf shirts, every year, we sell 5000 small, 8000 med, 10000 L and 6000 XL. So manufacture and buy appropriate amounts of each.

[hackpro]

Re: Retail Sizing Rant

Clothing orders for softgoods are placed well in advance of the 'season'
(up to 6 months)..the wholesaler builds some backup stock into the
equation..but when its gone..its gone..if you really like something
you better step up & buy it ie.Puma

This is exactly it, its a crap shoot to think of how much your actually going to sell in the up coming season. I've heard in the past about some manufacturers wanting to get the orders in 1 yr early. Nike golf when they first came out wanted equipment purchasing done 2 years in advance

I ranted about this a few years ago. You would think they would have figured this out by now. e.g. they should know, in golf shirts, every year, we sell 5000 small, 8000 med, 10000 L and 6000 XL. So manufacture and buy appropriate amounts of each.

I'm sure that some level of inventory is being calculated, but how are you suppose to order given the past 3-4 years? You can't think that consumers will be purchasing the same amounts as in years past. As much as I'm sure it hurts them to lose a potential sale, the potential cost of guessing wrong in ordering can hurt you more then a few lost sales.

Another knock is to those who wait until the season is over and still expect to have all sizes available. I notice this in the Pro Shop every year when people come in 5-6 months after opening the doors for the year and asking why we don't have stock in their size...

[hackerhare]

Re: Retail Sizing Rant

Maybe our neighbour to the south, which has more than 10x our population, are wearing mostly XL or larger sizes.

Another retail sizing rant: why is it that I can fit an Ashworth shirt Medium comfortably but a Penguin shirt at XL is still too tight.

[dmcdam]

Re: Retail Sizing Rant

Retailers DO buy more medium and large garments - by a huge margin over the very large or very small. That doesn't mean they can always accurately predict exactly how many they'll sell. Also, selling completely through on an item is a good thing for them as leftover items often get sold for deep discounts. They may have an opportunity to re-order stock mid-season but if it's getting towards the off-season, then they'll likely make do with what they have until the new gear shows up rather than risk getting stuck with unsold inventory.

[northernpro]

Re: Retail Sizing Rant

if you can sell 60% of your softgoods at full price,you have done well..
the other 40% are sold at various discounts

[GFlynn]

Re: Retail Sizing Rant

Maybe our neighbour to the south, which has more than 10x our population, are wearing mostly XL or larger sizes.

Another retail sizing rant: why is it that I can fit an Ashworth shirt Medium comfortably but a Penguin shirt at XL is still too tight.

I could rant about this all day. I try explaining to a female the men's sizes vary too and they look back shocked. I then take it a step further and explain belts and neck sizes on shirts, and that is just too much for some of them (some men too). If companies could all agree I'd be willing to buy a shirt from the package but now I still have to make sure I can try it on, pull out all the pins, only to find out it doesn't fit. Banana Republic/Gap I'm a small, most places medium, Zara I'm lucky to walk out of there in a large, sometimes XL.

On the original topic, I agree it's annoying but typically only on stuff that's been there awhile and they've sold out of standard sizes, or they have it in back. They need all sizes or people complain, but the extreme sizes typically don't sell as much and end up on the racks at the outlet malls or on the clearance rack once a new collection comes in.

[Big Shooter]

Re: Retail Sizing Rant

same with Size 11 shoes, you rarely find them in CLEARANCE!!