Size charts shoppers can read: how to build one for each marketplace

A size chart shoppers can read is built from measurements of your product, every size, labelled as garment or body measurements, with the measurements that product type needs in both inches and centimetres. Show it as data where the marketplace has a size chart field, such as Amazon's tool for Brand Registry brands, and as an image in the gallery everywhere else, with the same figures in both.

A size chart has one job: to let a shopper pick the right size without the product in their hands. When it works, the parcel fits and stays. When it does not, the result is a return, a disappointed review, or a shopper who orders two sizes and sends one back. Conflicting product information is a known reason shoppers walk away: Salsify's 2025 survey of US and UK shoppers reports that 54% had abandoned a purchase because of it. A size chart that disagrees with the product is conflicting information in its purest form.

This guide covers how to measure, which measurements each kind of product needs, inches and centimetres, where marketplaces show size charts, and whether to make yours an image, data, or both.

Why should you measure the product instead of copying a body chart?

Measure your product, because the most common size chart mistake is copying a generic chart, such as a standard body-measurement table, and using it for every product. Generic charts describe an average body, not your garment, and two brands' "medium" can differ by several centimetres.

How to measure it:

• Lay it flat on a table, smoothed but not stretched.
• Measure each size, not only one, scaling the rest. Grading between sizes is rarely even.
• Measure two or three pieces of each size if you can, and use the typical figure. Products vary a little from piece to piece.
• Write down how you measured, so the next batch is measured the same way.

What is the difference between garment and body measurements?

Garment measurements say what the product measures; body measurements say what body each size fits. There are two kinds of size chart, and shoppers mix them up unless you say which yours is:

• Body measurements say what body each size fits: "fits chest 96 to 101 cm".
• Garment measurements say what the product measures: "chest, laid flat, 52 cm wide" (and so 104 cm round).

Garment measurements are what you can measure and stand behind. If you give body measurements, base them on how your garment fits, not on a generic table. Either way, label the chart clearly: "Garment measurements" or "Body measurements".

Which measurements does each product type need?

Each product type needs different measurements on its size chart:

For children's clothing, add the age range the size suits, and keep the size chart's ages consistent with the product's age grade. Our page on children's clothing rules covers the rules that age brings.

How do you measure a garment for a size chart?

Measure a garment laid flat on a table, the same way for every size. For a top laid flat:

1. Chest: along the front, armpit to armpit. Double it for the full chest, and say which you show.
2. Length: from the highest point of the shoulder to the hem.
3. Sleeve: from the shoulder seam to the cuff.
4. Shoulder: seam to seam over the back.

For trousers:

1. Waist: along the top of the waistband, doubled.
2. Hip: at the widest part, doubled.
3. Inside leg: from the crotch seam to the hem.
4. Rise: from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband.

Use the same method for every size and every product in a range, and shoppers can compare sizes between products in your range too. A tape measure that does not stretch, a flat surface and good light are all the equipment you need.

Should a size chart use inches or centimetres?

Both, where you can: shoppers in the US mostly read inches; shoppers in Canada, the UK and Europe mostly read centimetres. Give both where you can:

• Measure in one unit and convert, rounding consistently: to the nearest half inch, or to the nearest whole centimetre.
• Show the local unit first for each store: inches first in the US, centimetres first elsewhere.
• Never mix units in one column.

What is a fit note on a size chart?

A fit note is one or two lines under a size chart that tell a shopper how the product will feel, where the measurements tell them the size. One or two lines under the chart answer the question measurements cannot:

• The cut: "relaxed fit", "slim fit", "true to size".
• The advice: "between sizes, size up for a looser fit".
• The fabric: "no stretch" or "stretches about 2 cm at the waist", measured, not guessed.
• The model: "the model is 175 cm and wears a small", for clothing shown on a person.

Only write a fit note you can stand behind. Your returns and reviews tell you whether a product runs small or large; use them.

Do products that are not clothing need size charts?

Yes. Size matters for far more than clothes, and a short size chart helps wherever a product comes in sizes:

• Rugs and bedding: each size with its actual dimensions and what it fits, such as a bed size or a room.
• Storage and bags: outer and inner dimensions, and what fits inside.
• Pet products: neck and chest measurements and the weight range for each size.
• Rings and bracelets: inner diameter or circumference, with a note on how to measure at home.

How do you show international sizes?

Show international sizes as an extra row or column for each other system, such as US, UK and EU shoe sizes, and say which system your labels use, because a shopper in another country may know a different system. Convert carefully, from a reliable conversion table, and check the result against your measurements rather than relying on the label alone.

What are the most common size chart mistakes?

A generic chart, mixed garment and body measurements and an unlabelled half-chest are the most common size chart mistakes:

Where do marketplaces show size charts?

Amazon has a size chart tool for Brand Registry brands; elsewhere, a size chart image in the gallery does the job.

Amazon. Brands enrolled in Brand Registry can add size charts with Amazon's self-serve tool, from Add size charts in Seller Central's Catalog menu. Amazon says the tool can refine an existing Amazon size chart, start from templates, and apply one chart to up to 1,000 ASINs in a product type at once. Sellers on Amazon's forums report that the option appears only in some categories, such as apparel and shoes, and that a seller account may need size chart permission turned on. Some also report friction between Amazon's standard apparel sizes and the sizing they use.

Everywhere, as an image. On marketplaces with no size chart field for your product, and as a back-up on those that have one, a size chart image in the image gallery does the job. A shopper swiping through the images finds it where they look for everything else.

On your Shopify store, a size chart can sit on the product page as a table or an image, or on a size guide page linked from it.

Should a size chart be an image or data?

A size chart works as an image in any gallery, and as data where a marketplace has a field for it:

Using both is often best: data where the marketplace supports it, an image for everywhere else and for shoppers who swipe through images. Keep them identical. An image that says 104 cm and a table that says 102 cm is a returns problem.

How do you make a size chart image that reads on a phone?

Keep a size chart image to a few columns and large figures:

• Few columns. Size plus three or four measurements. Put the rest in a second image or the description.
• Large figures. The numbers must be readable at phone size. If a chart has too many rows to read, split it in two.
• One unit per image, or a clear unit in every column header.
• The product beside it, with lines showing where each measurement is taken.
• The label "Garment measurements" or "Body measurements" at the top.

Our guide to product infographics covers making images with words that read on a phone.

A size chart template

Copy this structure and fill it with your measurements:

Under it, one line on how you measured, one on fit ("relaxed fit; size down for a closer fit"), and the unit conversion if you show only one unit.

Size chart checklist

1. Measured from your product, every size.
2. Labelled as garment or body measurements.
3. The measurements shoppers need for this product type.
4. The local unit first; both units where you can.
5. Readable on a phone, as an image and as data.
6. Identical everywhere it appears.
7. Updated when the product changes.

How Commicorn helps

• A size chart image from your measurements. The Size chart image lays out the sizes and measurements you give us, and no figure is ever invented or changed by AI.
• Edit the sizes, and the image follows. Change a figure in the size chart editor, and the image is laid out again from your table, with your changes saved back to the card.
• The same figures everywhere. Your size chart and your listing copy come from the same facts, for every marketplace you sell on.

Commicorn turns your measurements into a size chart image. Start free.

Questions sellers ask

Should a size chart show garment or body measurements?

Either, as long as the chart says which. Garment measurements are what you can measure and stand behind; body measurements should come from how your garment fits, not from a generic table.

How do you add a size chart on Amazon?

Brands enrolled in Brand Registry can add size charts from Add size charts in Seller Central's Catalog menu, and apply one chart to up to 1,000 ASINs in a product type at once. Sellers report that the option appears only in some categories, such as apparel and shoes.

Can I use a generic size chart for all my clothing?

No. A generic chart describes an average body, not your garment, and two brands' "medium" can differ by several centimetres, so measure each size of each product.

What measurements does a ring size chart need?

The inner diameter or circumference of each size, with a note on how to measure at home.

Should my size chart be in inches or centimetres?

Both where you can, with the local unit first: inches first in the US, centimetres first in Canada, the UK and Europe. Never mix units in one column.