The holiday gift returns are expected to be higher than ever this year as online shopping sales surge despite supply chain constraints.
According to Optoro, an estimated two out of three consumers will return at least one gift during the holiday season. Retailers face shipping delays, increased transportation costs, and labor shortages as a result of the anticipated return of $66.7 billion worth of product by the end of 2021, potentially causing additional supply chain constraints.
This holiday season, the National Retail Federation expects online sales to reach $222.3 billion, a 13% increase over last year. The cost of returning purchases has increased for retailers, but free product returns are still a large incentive for customers to shop online.
According to the commercial real estate services and investment firm, retailers are seeing returns earlier than usual because more consumers began their holiday shopping early this year.
According to a report published this week, early returns may benefit consumers, as hard-to- find and top quality merchandise could make their way back into stores before the Christmas holiday. Retailers trying to avoid losses by making more full margin sales could benefit from it.
The growing trend ofbracketing, in which a customer buys multiple sizes or colors of a single item, chooses the version they like best, and sends the rest back to the retailer, is contributing to increased returns. When retailers offer free shipping and free returns, it's common for brackets to be used.
The practice has been going on for a long time. 40% of respondents in a survey conducted by the customer-experience platform Narvar brackets their purchases at least occasionally. A survey of 1,004 shoppers from last month showed that the percentage of respondents who said they brackets their online purchases has increased.
Product returns generated 5.8 billion pounds of waste and 16 million metric tons of carbon emissions last year. Experts think that returns will go up this year.
"Retailers are trying to balance consumer demand with sustainable practices while still providing a returns experience that protects brand and customer loyalty," according to the report.
