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Spiking holiday returns could lead retailers to adjust their policies
The stat: Shoppers returned 1.39 billion orders globally following the 2022 holiday season, a 63% increase year-over-year (YoY), per Salesforce.
Holiday hangover: After a relatively strong holiday season, retailers are beginning to feel the weight of returns as inflation drives more consumers to return online purchases.
- Merchants using Loop Return’s platform processed 133,000 returns on December 26 and December 27 alone, a 33% spike YoY, per Insider.
- UPS expects to handle 5 million more returns this year than last year, per Supply Chain Dive, which the company partly attributes to the convenience of returning items at The UPS Store locations.
A serious problem: Return rates are growing faster than revenues for 91% of retailers, per a survey by Appriss Retail and Incisiv. With returns rates rising so quickly—posing a serious threat to profits—more retailers are adding fees to help cover the costs of reverse logistics, despite previously fearing that charging for returns would turn off customers.
- Most—70%—of US consumers say they would be willing to pay more for a convenient returns experience, per a survey by Loop. Half say they already have.
- But free returns continue to be an important purchase consideration for 87% of US shoppers, per a survey by Happy Returns and TRC.
- These diverging data points indicate the need for retailers to move beyond a one-size-fits-all returns policy, and instead offer shoppers multiple options to improve convenience and the customer experience.
Looking ahead: We expect ecommerce returns volumes to grow 4.2% this year to $211.76 billion, as consumers continue to practice bracketing and budget concerns drive shoppers to be more selective with their purchases.
Forecasts: EMARKETER Estimates and Historical Data
Forecasts: EMARKETER Estimates and Historical Data
EMARKETER estimates and historical data. Visualize how digital trends are evolving using reliable and unbiased numbers.
Very interesting stats. Interested in the methodology used by a lot of these takeaways- thanks for linking out
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