Overview

• Retailers are expecting to sort through more than $620 billion worth of returns this year, according to a Harvard Business Review study.
• 44% of retailers now charge customers a fee to ship something back, up from 33% in 2021, according to post-purchase-logistics company Narvar.
• Processing returns costs companies approximately $165 million for every $1 billion of merchandise they sell, as per the National Retail Federation.
• Amazon, which led the free returns movement, paid $84.3 billion to process returns last year, more than twice as much as it did in 2019.
• Bad return experiences could jeopardize 21% of online sales this season, Forbes estimates.