Background
Shoes are now sold online in a majority of cases according to US statistics.
https://www.powerreviews.com/research/apparel-footwear-shopping-survey-2022/
Situation is similar in Europe and the author's view in Sweden is the same.

Problem
Shoe size information is not well standardized and very inconsistent.
Several standards (doubtful if they can be called standards) exist, such as UK, US, EU, CN, JP.
But between brands, and even models within the same brand, shoes labelled the same size have quite different inner lengths, also for men and women.
Also manufacturers are unclear and vary if the size indicates length of user's foot or show inner length.
When people buy shoes online, they either get the wrong size, or buy 2-3 sizes at once and are sure to return all or all but one.

Consequences
I) Most importantly the environmental impact is significant. Many packages need unnecessary transport, resulting in truck driving, fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gases such as CO2.
II) Societies also waste effort on useless work.
III) Individual people have trouble finding, buying and handling shoes when shopping.

Solution
1) Clarify one and for all that size represents "shoe inner length". This way the user can compare his foot length and add space as wanted.
Stating the user's foot length prevents the user from understanding the extra space available.
2) State the shoe inner length as millimeters, "mm". The metric system is the internationally agreed standard for describing length/distances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_System_of_Units
3) Remove all existing labels such as UK, US, EU, CN, JP. Also, no size chart is needed anymore, remove them.

Use
a) The user measures his own foot length using a mm ruler.
b) The user easily orders the appropriate shoe with inner length suitable, eg add 10-20 mm depending on case.

Consequences
1) Environmental footprint for consumer shoe transportations can be vastly decreased (50%?)
2) Users are more happy
3) One little step towards world peace.

Petition call
Please sign this petition and also forward it.

Manufacturer call
Please implement the solution mentioned.

Author
Johan Leckström
Sweden