A product page answers fit when it says how this particular item fits against the brand's own size chart, what the fabric or material does, what size the model wears and at what height, and how the item behaves in the use the shopper has in mind. Those notes should come from the brand's return reasons, exchange records, and fit sessions, not from adjectives. The same size values then belong in the product feed and markup, so every version of the product agrees.
Fit and use questions are the ones a photograph cannot settle. A shopper can see a jacket's color but not whether it closes over a sweater, and a bag's shape but not whether a 15-inch laptop goes in with the zipper shut. When the page leaves those open, the shopper guesses, emails, orders two sizes, or buys somewhere else.
This is content planning for brands. It is not advice to shoppers about what to buy, and nothing here is legal advice about labeling; the rules overview is in our guide to content for retail, DTC and beauty brands.
Why a size chart does not finish the job
A size chart lists body or garment measurements by size, and it is usually the same across a whole range. That is its strength and its limit. Two dresses cut from the same block can feel very different once one is in a rigid fabric and the other has stretch. A size chart is not a fit answer. The fit answer is the brand's judgment about this style: where it sits close, where it has room, and what customers between sizes have done.
Use questions work the same way for products nobody wears. A daypack page that lists its capacity in liters has given a measurement. A page that says which laptop sizes the sleeve held in the brand's own testing has answered the question the shopper actually brought. Publish that kind of statement only where someone tested it.
What a useful fit note contains
A fit note can be short. It works when each line answers something a shopper would otherwise have to ask. Here is a planning template, filled with fictional wording for illustration.
| Element | Fictional example wording | Where the fact comes from |
|---|---|---|
| How it runs | Runs close through the shoulders compared with our size chart. | Fit sessions and return reason codes |
| Length and ease | Hits at the hip on our 5'7" fit model, who wears a medium. | Fit model measurements |
| Fabric behavior | Midweight cotton twill with no stretch; softens after several washes. | Tech pack and wash testing |
| Between sizes | Customers between sizes on this style usually exchanged up. | Exchange records for this style |
| Use | Closes over a light sweater; not cut for a heavy knit underneath. | Fit session notes |
Each line needs a source the brand can point to. If the exchange data shows no clear pattern, leave the between-sizes line out rather than guess.
Where the fit knowledge lives
Most of it sits outside marketing. Return reason codes show which styles disappoint on fit, and exchange records show which direction customers moved. Customer service macros hold the advice agents already give, and store associates, where a brand has them, hear fit questions face to face. A merchandising lead can pull most of this in an afternoon by asking one question: "For returns on this style coded too small, what size did the customer exchange into, and how often?" A copywriter should never have to invent "runs small" from a hunch when the exchange records already show which way customers moved.
Write fit notes per style where styles differ, and per cut or block where a whole group behaves the same. Revisit them when a fabric or a factory changes, because a note tied to last season's mill can turn wrong without anyone noticing. How a garment changes after washing overlaps with care content, covered in how a brand should write care and how-to content.
Keep the page, the feed and the markup in agreement
Size also lives in product data. Google Merchant Center's help page on the size attribute says size is required for free listings of clothing and shoes, and it asks merchants to submit sizes in a consistent format users can understand, such as S, M, and L, rather than mixing styles. Related attributes record the country sizing convention (size system) and the cut, such as petite, oversize, or maternity (size type). Google's product variant documentation describes a ProductGroup whose variants can differ by size or color, and its technical guidelines say the site must be able to preselect each variant directly with a distinct URL. In practice, the size names on the page, in the feed, and in the markup should be the same words.
Variants also need their own fit facts when they differ. If the petite cut of a dress has a shorter rise or a different hem, the variant should say so rather than borrow the regular cut's note. Fabric names used in fit notes should match the fiber content on the label, and wording about fiber belongs with whoever reviews your labels; the page on bridal and formalwear content covers the fabric-name rules in more detail.
Put the answer where the size decision happens
A fit note helps only if the shopper sees it before choosing a size. Place it beside the size selector in plain text, not only inside a pop-up chart or an image of a measuring tape, and repeat the single most useful line, such as how the style runs, in the product summary. For sets and bundles, say which size each piece comes in. For home goods and accessories, put the dimensions that settle the use question, such as interior depth or the largest pan a lid fits, near the photos rather than at the bottom of a specifications tab.
Write the note so it still reads clearly when lifted out on its own. "Runs small" with no reference point tells a reader little; "runs small compared with our size chart, and customers between sizes usually exchanged up" carries its own context. That matters when a passage is excerpted in a search result, summarized by an assistant, or copied into a marketplace listing by a retail partner.
A fictional denim brand rewrites one style
A fictional women's denim brand in Texas sells a high-rise straight jean in a wide size range. Its page shows a size chart and the words "our signature fit." Return codes show the style often comes back for a tight waist, and exchanges on that style mostly moved up one size. The rewritten page gives the rise and inseam for each length, says the fabric is rigid cotton that gives slightly with wear, states the fit model's height and size, and says customers between sizes usually exchanged up on this style. The copywriter did not have to invent that advice, because the exchange records supplied it and the merchandising lead signed off on each line.
Hudson South's four steps fit around this work. Authority Asset collects the approved knowledge and evidence: tech packs, size charts, and return data. Hudson Twenty-One profiles the brand's voice across 21 dimensions, so a fit note reads the way the brand's stylists talk. Market Intelligence gathers the fit and use questions shoppers ask in reviews and searches. AEO Creation writes the fit notes and product answers from those inputs.
Compare your fit answers with your competitors'
Bring one style that comes back too often. In a free 30-minute competitor analysis call, your product page goes beside competing pages to see which answers fit and use questions better.
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- Size [size]. Google Merchant Center Help. Read 2026-10-16.
- Product Variant Structured Data (ProductGroup, Product). Google Search Central. Read 2026-10-16.