# Size runs and the bracketing economy | BracketFence

Source: https://bracketfence.com/blog/size-run-bracketing.html

Behind every bracketed order is a size run: the same style in two or three adjacent sizes, shipped to one address. For the customer it is a fitting room. For the brand it is a miniature supply chain that runs backwards.

The economics are quietly brutal. Each bracketed unit spends weeks out of sellable stock, carries double shipping, and returns in mixed condition. Multiply by thousands of orders and bracketing becomes one of the largest hidden lines in the P&L.

What surprises most brands is the shape of the problem. A small set of SKUs, usually with inconsistent fit, generates a large share of brackets, and a small set of customers generates the rest regardless of product.

That shape is good news. It means two targeted fixes, better fit content on problem SKUs and per customer policy enforcement on habitual bracketeers, address most of the cost without touching the honest majority.

### Keep reading

[Using fit data to cut bracketing at the source](fit-data-cut-bracketing.md)

[Bracketing benchmarks for apparel brands](bracketing-benchmarks.md)

[Returns fraud glossary](../glossary.md) · [BracketFence vs Loop](../alternatives/loop.md) · [BracketFence vs Happy Returns](../alternatives/happy-returns.md)

[Get a free returns fraud scan](mailto:hello@bracketfence.com?subject=Free%20returns%20fraud%20scan)

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a size run in a bracketing order?

A size run is the same style ordered in two or three adjacent sizes in a single order. The shopper intends to keep one and return the rest, effectively using your inventory as a fitting room. Size runs are the physical shape bracketing takes in the warehouse.

### Why do size runs hurt more than normal returns?

Because they are guaranteed partial returns. A normal order might come back; a size run order returns most of its units by design. Those units spend days in transit instead of on the shelf, and they come back needing inspection and restocking during your busiest windows.

### How can brands reduce size runs without banning them?

Attack the uncertainty that causes them: garment measurements per size, fit notes for styles that run small or large, and fit history for returning customers. Shoppers run sizes when they cannot predict fit. Give them a prediction they trust and most order one.