E-commerce returns cost retailers an average of 55% of a product’s retail value in shipping, repackaging and processing fees. Bulky items like furniture are even more expensive due to the high cost of transporting overweight items. To make matters worse, online shopping and returns skyrocketed because COVID-19 trained people to shop from home. Struggling to overcome these reverse losses, retailers are radically rethinking e-commerce returns policies and incentivizing in-store transactions. These changes may drive record numbers of shoppers to return products to stores post-holidays, boosting sales and minimizing reverse costs.
