Battle Lines Will Be Drawn Over Returns Charges

Returns are currently a huge burden for UK retailers – costing £7 billion a year to process. With the price of everything from postage to warehouse workers’ wages on the rise, these costs will climb even higher over the next year. Beyond the bottom line, returns are also damaging for the environment, causing 16 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 alone.

In response, we’ve seen the likes of H&M and Boohoo start charging for returns. Others have gone so far as to adopt a ‘keep it’ strategy for some lower cost items, processing refunds without asking customers to send items back. Finding the right approach depends on several factors – the demographics and loyalty of the client base, the value and uniqueness of products, and overall brand equity.

With reputation and profit on the lines – not to mention the planet – retailers need to ensure they are making the right choices by using data to guide their returns policy.