Returns are an $890 billion problem for retailers

Holiday shopping is expected to reach record levels this year.

Holiday shopping is expected to reach record levels this year. But a growing share of those purchases will be sent back.

Returns in 2024 are expected to amount to 17% of all merchandise sales, totaling $890 billion in returned goods, according to a new report by the National Retail Federation and return management company Happy Returns. That’s up from a return rate of about 15% of total U.S. retail sales, or $743 billion in returned goods, in 2023.

Even though returns happen throughout the year, they are much more prevalent during the holiday season, the NRF also found. As shopping reaches a peak in the weeks ahead, retailers expect their return rate for the holidays to be 17% higher, on average, than the annual rate.

“Ideally, I hope there is a world in which you can reduce the percent of returns,” said Amena Ali, CEO of returns solution company Optoro, but “the problem is not going to abate any time soon.”

With the explosion of online shopping during and since the pandemic, customers got increasingly comfortable with their buying and returning habits and more shoppers began ordering products they never intended to keep.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/retail-returns-890-billion-problem-rcna183359

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