Even though I absolutely love shopping online, I admit that buying ladies shoes online can be tricky. However, if you do a little research and follow these tips, you will increase your chances of getting the right pair which will be worn and loved for years. Or, at least while they are still in style…

Even though doing some research may help to reduce of having to deal with returns, sometime they are inevitable. If you don’t want to loose money, look for stores which offer free returns. Most respectable online shoe stores, such as Zappos or Endless offer free shipping and free returns, so if something doesn’t fit, you are not going to pay for it.

I am particularly fond of Endless, because they offer free overnight shipping, so you don’t have to wait for a pair for 2 weeks to find out that it doesn’t fit. It comes especially handy if you are shopping for shoes to wear on a special event.

It always amazes me how many women don’t know their shoe width size. I guess if you don’t shop online, you don’t really need to know it. You try a shoe and if it fits well, you buy it. If it doesn’t, you don’t. (Well, unless it is a knockout pair, of course and you don’t care). When you look at ladies shoes online, you often see not only numbers, but letters as well.

I have to be honest, when I just started shopping online, I had no clue what AA or 3E meant. All I knew was that my shoe size is 8. Then I got really confused, because some brands list their narrow shoe sizes as N, others lists them as A (or AA). Medium/Average widths are listed as M or B and I still think that this inconsistency is pain in the neck. However, it is not going to stop me from shopping online.

I usually shop at discount online stores and if they don’t have a size chart explaining what all these mysterious letters mean, I go to Google, type the brand name I am interested; go to their official website and look for sizing chart there.

Although usually if you see sizes A through D, A is narrow, B is medium, C is wide and D is extra wide. AA (or 2A) is extra narrow and AAA would be even narrower (The more letters, the slimmer the shoe.)  When it comes to E’s and D’s, the more letters, the wider the shoe. Not all brands make triple narrow or triple wide shoes, so usually you will only see letters from A to D (or N – narrow, M – medium, W- wide).

If you are buying boots, remember to look at the calf size. I personally wouldn’t buy a pair of boots via the Internet if the calf size is not listed.

If all these seems like too much and you prefer traditional shopping, where you can touch, feel and try, go right ahead. However, there are no guarantees that you will find a perfect pair or a fantastic deal even if you visit every store in the area.