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Monday 19 June 2017
Tips to make swimwear shopping season less stressful

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO Some tips to navigate ple find the right fit. Lyst
AP Retail Writer swimwear shopping: has an interactive feature
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s the TIMING THE DISCOUNTS: If called SwimSeeker that
time of year for what can you can wait, the best time helps find a suit using three
questions: Which part of
be a dreaded expedition: to buy is in August, when
Buying a swimsuit. But for suits are 70 percent off, their bodies do shoppers
love, which colors look
women looking for a shop- says Benjamin Glaser, fea-
ping experience that in- tures editor with DealNews, best on them, and which
styles are they looking for.
cludes more size options, an online comparison deal
versions under $100 and site. Then again, by then As they use the tool, the
options become more per-
generous return policies, the choices will have dwin-
there are plenty of stylish dled. Walmart says it has sonalized, Tanner says.
J.C. Penney displays select
choices. the most options in its stores
Cutting through the clut- from Memorial Day to July styles on mannequins at
stores, but also launched
ter is key as the selections 4th. Target says June is its
multiply. The e-commerce In this photo provided by Lands’ End, a model wears a pink bi- most popular month for a video component on-
line this year in response
kini from the Lands’ End Sea & Sky collection.
platform Lyst has 154,000 (Will Davidson/Lands’ End via AP) swimsuit sales. Off-price re-
swimwear options avail- tailer TJX Co., which owns to “customers who were
interested in seeing how a
able right now, up 12 per- times before committing to says. That compares to 34 T.J. Maxx and Marshalls,
cent from a year ago. buy it. percent of pants sent back says it gets a fresh assort- swimsuit fit on a real per-
son, rather than relying on
Customers spent three But even after all that con- this year and 18 percent of ment of swimwear every
times longer browsing sideration, swimwear is hats. week all summer. static online images,” says
spokeswoman
Daphne
through swimwear last one of the most-returned “Swimwear is one of those USING TOOLS TO FIGURE
summer than in any other items of the season. Forty- pieces of clothing that is OUT FIT: Many swimwear Avila. Some styles feature
videos of models, includ-
category, Lyst says. On av- five percent of swimsuits hard to find the fit,” said brands tout features like
erage, a shopper will return bought since April have spokeswoman Sarah Tan- tummy control. But plenty ing some full-figured ones,
walking and posing in the
to click on a swimsuit four been returned already, Lyst ner. of new tools can help peo-
suit.
Macy’s has an online swim-
wear style guide that offers
recommendations by style,
trend or fit. And Target’s
website lets customers
navigate by cut and fit op-
tions.
Online retailer Zappos has
size conversion charts to
help people make choices
that fit well.
This season, Lands’ End
launched a “swim finder”
tool that prompts women
to make choices from a
variety of categories to
help narrow down swim
pieces to those best suited
for them. Shoppers can
also customize their two-
piece selections by style,
color and size.
FINDING CHOICES IN MORE
SIZES: Retailers are offer-
ing more swimwear op-
tions in larger sizes. Target
launched extended sizing
in suits sold under the Xhil-
aration store brand. J.C.
Penney unveiled its first
plus-size private swimwear
brand, Boutique+, this
year. It also expanded its
Ambrielle intimates brand
to offer swimwear pieces
that women can get in dif-
ferent sizes, like a smaller
bottom and a larger top or
vice versa.
LEARNING THE RETURN
POLICIES: Many retailers
like Target and Walmart
say their return policies are
the same for swimwear as
for any other item. q