Online shopping shift fuels fashion return rates

LONDON: The dramatic shift to online shopping is fuelling sky-rocketing fashion return rates, a new survey of UK consumers has found. Online shopping, which accelerated during the pandemic, restricts customers from trying on clothes and inspecting product quality before purchasing. The survey found ‘fit’ is by far the most common reason why online fashion items are returned. 51 per cent of consumers cited this reason, followed by damage/faulty goods (31 per cent) and items looking ‘different to how it was described (11 per cent). “Despite efforts to improve this customer experience through virtual try-on tools and size estimations, the return rate for online clothing remains very high and a challenging problem for retailers to solve,” the survey found.

“Data from previous studies suggest the return rate in traditional brick-and-mortar stores is around 5- 10 per cent while the return rate for those same products purchased online is well over 30 per cent,” the research paper adds. “The reason for the increased return rate online is largely due to the fundamental differences between consumer shopping behaviours compared to that in-store.”

The study found that 60 per cent of respondents in the research strongly or always consider the returns policy when buying in-store and online. As part of the research, consumers were surveyed about the impact of a £2 charge for online returns. 67 per cent of respondents said they would not buy an item online if they had to pay for returns. Yet, when asked how much a £2 fee would impact their purchase decision, only 8 per cent said this would have a high impact.

“This suggests that as long as the return fee is kept minimal, consumer attitudes can be adjusted,” states the report. “Offering a free return policy may positively benefit the customer experience, but the economic impact on a retailer’s bottom line is not sustainable.”

“Returns can lead to a significant loss of profits from not only having to refund the product, but also managing the logistics of returning, restocking, and reselling the product. The increased return rates are creating serious problems across the industry.”

A large proportion of this cost occurs in warehouse management processes, where products are shipped, sorted, cleaned, restocked, and then resold. It has been reported that retailers sometimes throw the items away as a more cost-effective measure. Precise figures

33 per cent of respondents in the survey said they never consider the environmental impacts of returns, and only 6 per cent consider the environment all of the time. Most surprisingly, the 18-24 age group, which is often seen as the most environmentally conscious demographic group, heavily impacted this data, with 68 per cent responding that they never or rarely consider the environmental impact of returns. Further, when asked ‘what is your least favourite thing about the returns process?’ not one of respondents selected ‘The Environmental Impact’ and travelling to the Post Office/store to process the return was far more popular, with 66 per cent of responses.

The survey of 550 UK consumers was conducted between 21st July – 4th August 2022 by retail technology company Slip.