USA: TheRightSize Will Shrink The High Cost of Size-Related Merchandise Returns

Senior executives from the apparel, e-commerce and credit card industries have developed a new business-to-business commerce enabler to help solve the most frustrating and costly problem that manufacturers and suppliers face in the trillion-dollar size-related apparel marketplace -- the return of merchandise that does not fit. San Francisco-based TheRightSize, Inc. today announced their intention to reduce the rate of size-related returns and increase supply chain efficiencies through an innovative, patent-pending technology, which they call the "Rosetta Stone of Fit." For US retailers alone, total costs of fit-related returns are conservatively estimated to reach $35 billion by 2003, up from $25 billion in 1998. These costs are rooted in a fundamental fact of the apparel industry: It is difficult for consumers to know their size without physically trying on an item they've never worn before. Increased sales through web and catalog channels only exacerbate the fit returns problem. "Our mission is to improve our business subscriber's bottom line by increasing customer satisfaction, reducing size-related returns and adding top line growth," said TheRightSize co-founder and CEO Ernesto Aguirre. Aguirre, who served previously as president of apparel for high-growth companies Esprit, JoeBoxer Corp. and Perry Ellis Mens, brings more than 30 years of apparel industry experience to TheRightSize. TheRightSize management team includes co-founder and president/COO, Krishnan Menon, who was formerly global practice leader and managing partner of the Retail Practice at USWeb/CKS (now MarchFIRST). Menon is a well-known Internet veteran who is a member of the W3C, a founding member of the Standard for Internet Commerce, and serves on Microsoft's Internet Advisory Board.