Despite great efforts to reduce the number of returns, online retail is struggling with high return costs. This emerges from a study by the retail research institute EHI, for which online retailers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland were surveyed.
The average cost is between five and ten euros for each returned item. Returns in the home and furnishing sector are particularly more expensive at 10 to 20 euros because of their size and the higher value of the goods. According to those surveyed, the biggest cost driver is checking the returned items and checking their quality.
Differences depending on the industry
According to the study, the volume of returns varies greatly depending on the industry. For fashion products there are particularly high rates of an average of 26 to 50 percent. Online buyers often order several versions in order to decide which item of clothing they like best when trying it on, the study authors write. This is part of the business model. Many of the returned fashion items are then put back on sale.
On average for all product groups, the item-related return rate is between six and ten percent and is therefore at a similar level to previous years. 58 percent of retailers state that the rate is constant, 21 percent say it has increased and 15 percent say it has decreased. According to the study, the pandemic did not have a significant impact on development.
Reasons for returns are recorded
74 percent of retailers specifically try to avoid returns. In order to be able to take the right countermeasures, 70 percent record the reasons for returns. For 86 percent of those surveyed, detailed information in the online shop with precise descriptions and illustrations is the most important measure for reducing the rate.
Few sellers let customers cover shipping costs for returns. Only 14 percent of online retailers use this option to reduce the number of returns. Almost two thirds cover the shipping costs. “It seems to them that it is essential to offer this service because of the high level of competition and because they assume that customers expect such a service,” the authors write.
According to a survey by the market research company GfK, Germans were not as keen to buy online this year as they were in 2022. According to this, they spent 17 percent less money in nominal terms – i.e. not adjusted for prices – than in the previous year. “After Germans were forced to buy a lot of things online during the pandemic, they are now increasingly drawn to local stores again,” says GfK retail expert Filip Vojtech.
