I bought some new socks recently. Very exciting, I know. But one thing struck me as odd when I picked them out in the store. Every package of men’s socks was marked “Sizes 6-12”. In other words, the product is one size fits all. Yet the lack of that phrasing and the emphasis on the numbering made me spend extra time investigating the options before I finally made a purchase.

Why the delay at the point of decision? My guess is that the numeric range on the package made me think that there must be bigger or smaller socks available as well. I wear a size 10 or 11, so the 6-12 range made me a bit concerned that the socks would be too small. I still completed the transaction, but I suspect this unnecessary focus on the size range tends to distract customers and reduce the percentage of people who actually buy the product.

So if you’re selling a product that only comes in a single size, the packaging should emphasize the phrase “One size fits all” or something similar. And when there’s a corresponding size range, make that info considerably smaller. That way, you’ll save customers the time they would otherwise spend looking for different sizes, while giving them added confidence that your product will meet their needs.