Every month, your store is bleeding money – and it has nothing to do with your ads, your traffic, or your pricing. It’s your words. Fluff is friction. A return is just a broken promise in disguise.
When a customer reads your product description, they’re building a mental picture of what’s coming in the mail. If that picture doesn’t match reality, the disappointment is instant – and the return label is already printing.
The best DTC apparel brands know this. They don’t just write to sell. They write to protect profits. And right now, if your return rates are high, these five mistakes are probably why.
1. You describe the product like a marketer, not like the customer uses it.
Your customers don’t buy “features” – they buy moments in their life. They don’t care about “industry-leading design.” They care about staying dry in a surprise rainstorm.
One founder I worked with sold “lightweight outerwear” that kept getting returned. The problem? No one knew when to wear it. We rewrote the copy: “Keeps you dry when the weather turns halfway to the office.” Returns dropped by 18% in 60 days.
Specs are for factories. Scenarios are for customers. Get out of your marketing head and into your customer’s morning routine. Narrate their life, then put your product in it.
If they can picture it, they’re halfway to buying it.
2. You use “fluff” adjectives instead of measurable, specific details.
“Premium.” “Luxurious.” “High-quality.” They’re safe. They’re also meaningless.
One brand I know sold “durable” kids’ jackets. Parents returned them after two weeks because the elbows wore out. When we rewrote the copy to say, “Reinforced double stitching that holds up to 100 playground trips,” sales went up – and returns went down.
Specificity builds confidence. “Soft” becomes “100% brushed organic cotton for a buttery feel.” “Warm” becomes “Insulated to keep you comfortable down to 40°F.” Product descriptions aren’t poetry – they’re contracts.
If you wouldn’t say it in court, don’t say it in your copy.
3. You skip the “day-in-the-life” use case that helps customers imagine wearing it.
If they can’t picture it, they won’t buy it. If they can picture it, they’ve already justified the price. Imagination closes the sale before checkout ever loads.
Selling a hoodie? Don’t just say “comfortable fit.” Say, “Perfect for throwing on after your 6 a.m. workout or lounging on a lazy Sunday.” Selling jeans? Not “versatile style,” but, “Dress them up for Friday night or wear them with sneakers for weekend errands.”
One brand I helped rewrote their “summer dress” description to: “Breezy enough for a picnic, polished enough for a rooftop dinner.” The page-to-purchase conversion rate jumped 22%.
Get the reader to star in the mental movie – the rest takes care of itself.
4. You don’t answer the top 3 objections customers have before buying.
And here’s the part no one wants to admit: most returns are preventable. In apparel, the three killers are fit, accuracy, and feel. If you leave those unanswered, you’re begging for buyer’s remorse.
Include fit notes based on real customer reviews. Show raw, unfiltered photos in different lighting and on different body types. Be upfront about fabric weight, stretch, and texture. The best brands don’t hide flaws — they control expectations.
A shoe brand I worked with added “Runs ½ size small, size up for comfort” and return rates on that SKU dropped by a third. The more certainty you create before checkout, the fewer regrets you handle after.
5. You fail to explain care instructions until after purchase.
Nothing kills a honeymoon phase like finding out your “everyday sweater” is “dry-clean only.” At that point, the sale is already lost.
Care instructions are buying criteria, not fine print. Make them part of the story: “Machine washable, colorfast for 50+ washes” speaks to convenience. “Dry-clean only to maintain its rich texture for years” appeals to those who value longevity.
One men’s brand I worked with started adding care details above the fold. Yes, some buyers clicked away. But the ones who stayed were the ones who kept their clothes – and their money in the store’s account.
Hiding care instructions costs more than showing them. Every time.
Bonus: You don’t use customer reviews to inform your product description language.
Your customers are literally writing your best copy for you – in your reviews. Most brands ignore it.
Reviews reveal the words that resonate, the features they value, and the situations they care about. One brand’s “soft shirt” suddenly became “feels like my favorite old college tee” after we pulled phrasing straight from their 5-star reviews. Sales went up. Returns dropped.
If customers hear their own voice echoed back, they’ll trust you faster. And trust is the ultimate return-proof guarantee.
Your Copy Isn’t Just Selling – It’s Protecting Your Profits
In DTC apparel, a return isn’t just a lost sale. It’s a customer who might never come back – and who will tell their friends why.
Every unclear adjective, skipped detail, or missing scenario plants seeds of doubt that bloom into refunds and chargebacks. The brands that win don’t just optimize their ads. They make sure the promise in their product description matches reality in the box.
Get brutally specific. Write like every word is a binding agreement. And watch your return rates fall.
If this resonated, here’s what to do next:
→ If you’re tired of content that fills space instead of driving sales, let’s talk. Schedule a quick demo.
→ If you’re ready to turn product pages, email flows, landing copy, and more into silent salespeople for your brand, subscribe to either our Unlimited Standard Plan or Unlimited Professional Plan to get started.
Your story deserves better than generic copy.
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