Retailers Grapple with Soaring Return Costs Amid Changing Policies
As return rates skyrocket, companies like Amazon face billions in processing costs, while others introduce return shipping fees, potentially impacting online sales.
- 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.
