Fashion and apparel: sizes, variations, returns and what an agent gets right Free & Pro

"Find me a waterproof jacket in a medium under £150" is the kind of request personal agents are built for, and a clothing store is where they most often get it wrong, because sizes, fits and colours live in variations and the variations are named carelessly. This page is for apparel stores on WooCommerce running Agent Adapt, with facts from the plugin as it ships on 13 October 2026.

What customers will ask their assistant

• "Find me a navy linen shirt, size L, under £60, in stock."
• "The jeans I bought in March, same size, different wash."
• "Can I still return the coat I bought three weeks ago?"
• "Where is my order?"

The first needs no sign-in. The other three need the customer to sign in on your store’s own page and approve the agent, once, for 90 days.

How the agent sees a variable product

It searches by keywords, matched against titles and SKUs, and can narrow by category, price range, in-stock only, and on-sale only, and sort by price, newest, popularity or rating. For each product it reads the title, the short description, the price or price range, stock, the first image’s URL and categories. For a product it looks at closely, it also reads the full description and every attribute with its values, and the list of variations with their attribute values. It adds a specific variation to the cart by its ID, or by attribute values where an attribute is "any".

Everything therefore depends on names. "Size: M" and "Colour: Navy" are what the agent tells the customer and what it matches against "medium" and "navy". "Attribute 1: 2" tells it nothing. Stock is read per variation, so a product in stock in XS only is reported honestly, and an out-of-stock variation is not added. Low-stock counts are shown only if your store shows them to shoppers; the agent never invents scarcity.

Sizing and fit

An agent cannot read a size chart that is an image. If your size guide is a table in the product description, it reads it (the description is sent up to 5,000 characters). Put the measurements that matter in text: chest, waist, inside leg, the model’s height and size. A short description like "Relaxed fit. Model is 185 cm and wears M" answers the question the customer will ask.

Returns, the page that gets quoted

An agent sends the customer your returns page as plain text and answers "can I return it?" from it. A clear page says the window, the condition (tags on, unworn), what is excluded (underwear, swimwear, sale items), who pays return postage, and how to start a return. "Three weeks" against "30 days from delivery" is a question an agent can answer; against "see our FAQ" it cannot. See Writing store policies an agent can read.

With Pro, an agent can send you a return request for a completed order within your return window (30 days by default; you set it). It lists the items and quantities and can give a reason, adds a note to the order and emails you. It refunds nothing; you decide and contact the customer. For an apparel store with a high return rate, that turns "I want to return these" from an email you transcribe into a note on the order.

Exchanges

The protocol and the plugin have no exchange operation. An agent can do the two halves: send a return request for the wrong size (Pro) and put the right size in the cart for the customer to pay on your checkout. Say in your returns page whether you treat that as an exchange.

What to set up

1. Attribute names and values a person would say. Size and colour as global attributes with consistent terms across the catalogue.
2. SKUs on every variation. Customers reorder from receipts, and the agent matches SKUs.
3. Stock managed at variation level.
4. Measurements in text, in the description or short description.
5. A returns page that answers the five questions above.
6. Titles that say the garment and its defining feature: "Stormline Insulated Jacket, Women’s" rather than "SL-W-22".

Common questions

Can the agent recommend a size?

It can pass on what your description says and what the customer tells it about themselves. It is the customer’s assistant and its judgement is its own; your store’s part is to give it the measurements.

Does it see the model photos?

It receives the first image’s URL and can show it. It does not interpret images.

Will it add sale items that cannot be returned?

It will add anything purchasable. Your returns page is what it quotes about returnability; say there which items are final sale, and consider saying it in the product description too.

Can an agent see my size chart plugin’s table?

Only if the table is in the product description text. Tables injected by a plugin from a separate source are not part of what the API returns.