SizeWise is an innovative company dedicated to bringing trust to online shoe sizing, with a particular emphasis on the children’s footwear market. Under CEO Alan Power’s leadership, it is reshaping online footwear retail by tackling industry challenges around fit and consumer confidence, setting new standards through a smarter, AI-powered approach. With just a scan of their child’s foot using a mobile device, customers can instantly receive accurate size recommendations tailored to a specific brand and product.

 

Entrepreneur Alan Power founded SizeWise in 2022 as a spin-out from the University College Dublin to solve one of online footwear’s biggest challenges – finding the perfect fit. The company was built by a team combining in-depth footwear expertise with software, AI and design, and a clear objective: to bring trust and confidence to online footwear sizing, an area that has historically been one of the biggest barriers to ecommerce growth. By combining real foot data with AI-powered, brand-specific recommendations, SizeWise helps retailers reduce returns, increase conversions, and improve customer satisfaction.

SizeWise’s initial focus was on children’s footwear – one of the most complex areas in retail that brings its own unique challenges. Children’s feet develop rapidly and sizing requirements can vary significantly, which can make it difficult for parents to select the right fit, especially when shopping online. Despite the growing trend of online purchasing, many families continue to struggle with uncertainty about sizing. Retailers, too, face obstacles, as high rates of returns and low consumer confidence can impact sales and customer satisfaction. By targeting children’s footwear, SizeWise aimed to address these persistent issues, bringing innovative technology and data-driven solutions to a market in need of greater trust, accuracy and convenience for both consumers and businesses.

Innovating footwear sizing

“A growing number of children are wearing ill-fitting shoes at a critical stage of development, while parents are increasingly shopping online where uncertainty around fit remains a major friction point,” confirms Power. “This creates a clear problem for both consumers and retailers, becoming even more acute during peak periods such as Back to School, when purchase decisions are time-sensitive and the cost of getting sizing wrong is significantly higher. SizeWise addresses this directly – removing uncertainty around fit, improving confidence at the point of purchase, and delivering measurable commercial impact through increased conversion, reduced returns and stronger customer loyalty.”

Power notes that traditional size guides simply don’t meet the needs of modern ecommerce. They rely on manual measurement, often using a pencil, and generally focus on a single dimension, the length. Consumers are then required to interpret sizing charts that differ significantly across brands, styles and products, an approach that often creates challenges rather than instilling confidence. SizeWise is designed to remove that “fit friction” entirely.

A smarter solution

Built to handle the complexity that traditional tools cannot, it uses “fit groups” to intelligently cluster footwear that fits in a similar way, allowing retailers to avoid the impractical task of calibrating every individual SKU. These fit groups can be applied at brand, style, or product level, giving a flexible and scalable framework. As the customer browses, recommendations adapt in real time to each product. Consumers can also switch between international sizing standards, such as EU and UK, ensuring clarity across markets.

“Integration for brands and retailers is deliberately designed to be simple and low-lift, with no app download required,” continues Power. “Following a short kickoff, the SizeWise team manages setup and calibration. Once approved, the solution is deployed via a dedicated sizing page and a lightweight integration on product pages. From a retailer’s perspective, this is not a heavy technical project; it’s a fast path to unlocking measurable performance improvements. Consumers then scan their child’s foot using their mobile device and receive a precise size recommendation calibrated to the specific brand and product – instantly and seamlessly. The experience is simple for the consumer, but fundamentally more accurate and scalable for the retailer.”

 

 

Reducing returns

In terms of how SizeWise impacts return rates and customer satisfaction for children’s brands and retailers, the results are both immediate and meaningful. Across partner deployments, figures show over 15% uplift in web traffic post-launch, return rate reductions of approximately 12%, and conversion rates of around 21% following a scan.

The impact is particularly pronounced during peak trading periods such as Back to School, where demand is highest and parents are under pressure to get the right fit first time. In this window, improving sizing accuracy has an outsized effect on both conversion and returns, while also reducing operational strain from exchanges and refunds. Beyond the numbers, SizeWise is seeing strong organic adoption. Parents are actively sharing the experience within their communities, positioning accurate sizing as a must-have rather than a nice-to-have.

Supporting sustainability

SizeWise also plays a role in supporting more sustainable retail models, particularly concerning reducing returns and overproduction. “Sustainability is a natural outcome of better sizing,” says Power. “In the short term, reducing returns has an immediate environmental impact. Over time, the data generated through scanning provides retailers and brands with unprecedented insight into customer foot profiles. This enables better buying decisions, improved product development, and ultimately a move towards more efficient, demand-aligned production.”

Looking ahead, Power sees SizeWise becoming a standard part of how footwear is bought and sold online – particularly in children’s categories where fit matters most. Upcoming developments include a “fit health” report, designed to support both parents and children with ongoing guidance, as well as reminders to rescan as children grow. The company is also investing in more engaging, omnichannel and gamified scanning experiences, recognising that both parent and child are part of the journey.

More broadly, the direction is clear: sizing is moving from static charts to dynamic, personalised recommendations. “Retailers who embrace this shift are already seeing the benefits – in conversion, returns and customer trust,” concludes Power. “As consumer expectations continue to evolve, accurate and personalised sizing is quickly moving to a standard expectation.”

For further information, please contact team@sizewise.ai or click here.