Size guide with belly measurements
Each style lists bust, waist, hip and belly ranges in one table, with a note on how the fabric recovers after washing.
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Direct-to-Consumer Maternity Dress Storefront
A direct-to-consumer maternity dress storefront has to answer the questions a buyer at 30 weeks asks, which differ from those of a buyer at 12 weeks. This page explains how SIZ Group would build one, from product collections through to payment.
01
Where direct sales of maternity dresses lose the buyer today
Many maternity dress brands that start selling direct begin with a catalog that looks like any other fashion site. A shopper then has to guess how a wrap bodice will sit over a bump at 28 weeks, because the maternity dress size guide shows only bust and hip figures. Some of those shoppers message support, and a reply the next morning does not help a buyer whose due date is three weeks away.
Returns are the second break point. A dress that has been worn for a photo shoot or a baby shower cannot go back on the rail as new, so an open return policy turns into a cost. Brands either refuse returns, which hurts trust with first-time mothers, or absorb restocking work that nobody planned for.
Discount codes and delivery fees cause the third problem, usually at the last step. A code that fails on a sale item, or a shipping rate that changes after the address is typed, makes the order feel like a trick, and that buyer rarely comes back.
02
What a direct-to-consumer maternity dress storefront must prove first
The brand owner should approve the store on evidence rather than on mockups. The first proof is that a shopper can reach the right dress in three clicks by length, neckline or nursing access, and that every style shows belly and bust numbers in plain figures.
The second proof is a clean maternity dress checkout. The total must match the cart at every step, including tax and delivery charges for the address entered. We test those paths with sample orders before launch, so the first real customer is not the first test.
Finally, the owner needs a simple view of sales by collection, the share of visitors who add a dress to the cart, and how many orders come back as size swaps. Those numbers show whether the store is doing its job after launch.
03
The first release: what to build now and what waits
The first release should cover the collections a shopper actually browses. Each dress page lists its fabric blend, its length and whether the bodice has nursing access, so the buyer can compare two styles without opening a third tab.
Search should understand how mothers describe what they want, so a nursing friendly dress filter and terms like wrap, petite or ruched side panel return the right styles. Cart, checkout and returns belong in the same release, with a visible returns window on each product page and discount rules tested against sale items.
Customer accounts, a fit quiz, bundles for matching family dresses and due-date email reminders can wait. Each one belongs in a later phase, added once the first release shows where shoppers stall.
What you get
Key features
Nursing access filters
Shoppers narrow the range by length, neckline and nursing access, and the result count updates as they choose.
Returns and size swaps in the account
A buyer starts a swap or return from her order page, with a reason code that the fulfilment desk can act on.
Checkout that matches the cart
Tax, delivery and discount rules appear before the final step, so the total does not change at payment.
Launch testing with sample orders
Every payment, swap and return path is tested with sample orders before the store opens to customers.
04
One first-time buyer's journey through the finished store
The buyer in this example found the brand through a social post and has never ordered from it before. The product page she lands on needs to answer her questions before she thinks to ask them, so the size table, the fabric note and the returns window all sit above the add to cart button.
A week after delivery she returns one size from her account. The request arrives in the back office with the order number and a reason code, so the fulfilment desk knows what to expect, and she receives status updates without calling anyone.
- Lands on the summer collection from an Instagram post and filters by length and nursing access.
- Opens a jersey wrap dress and reads the size chart with its belly measurement column.
- Adds two sizes to the cart because she is between sizes, and sees the delivery estimate for her postcode.
- Applies a launch code to the full cart and receives a confirmation with a free size swap link.
05
Mistakes we would steer maternity dress brands away from
The most common mistake is building the store around the lookbook. Editorial photos look good, but a buyer needs the back view, a close shot of the fabric and a note on stretch recovery before she trusts a dress for her third trimester.
Another is treating maternity sizing as regular sizing with a stretch note added. A size chart without bust, waist and belly ranges for each size leaves the buyer to guess, and guessing produces the very returns the brand was trying to avoid.
Brands also promise free swaps that the team cannot process. If the promise is ten days and the fulfilment desk takes three weeks, the complaints land with the founder. The published policy should match the process the store can actually run.
06
What drives cost and timeline, and how to keep scope fixed
Cost follows the number of variants and the size and fit content entered for each one. A catalog of forty dresses in six sizes and four colors is a different job from ten styles in a single size run, and both need careful product data before launch.
Integrations add testing work. Connecting the store to a warehouse system, a payment provider such as Stripe and an email platform such as Klaviyo is quoted separately, so the brand can choose which ones belong in the first release.
After the free scoping call, we confirm scope and price in writing. The first release is a fixed list, and anything outside it goes into a later phase rather than growing the project quietly.
- Number of products, variants and size charts to enter
- Payment, tax and delivery rules that need custom logic
- Warehouse, shipping and returns integrations
- Post-launch support hours agreed in writing
Can a direct-to-consumer maternity dress storefront show how a dress fits at different stages of pregnancy?+
Yes. The product page can carry belly measurements, a fit note for the bump at different weeks, and photos taken on a model at more than one stage. The brand supplies the measurements and images, and we build the layout that shows them clearly on a phone.
Do we need to rebuild our whole website to sell direct?+
Not always. In many cases the storefront can sit alongside the existing brand site and share its design. We confirm the approach during the free scoping call, and the plan is written down before any build starts.
How should the store handle returns on worn or altered dresses?+
The maternity dress returns policy is the brand's decision. We build the return request, the reason codes and the status emails so the policy is applied the same way on every order. Rules for worn items can be shown on the product page before purchase.
How is the price of the storefront decided?+
Nothing is priced until the free scoping call is done. Once the product count, integrations and checkout rules are clear, you receive a written scope and a fixed figure to approve.
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Let's make it happen
Plan a direct store for your maternity dresses
Book a free scoping call and receive your scope and price in writing.