E-commerce returns to reach all-time high over National Returns Day

Retailers and manufacturers enjoyed record e-commerce sales in 2016, but according to UPS, this sector also is posed to break another record – that of the returns of holiday packages to retailers.

According to the shipment and delivery company, “Holiday shoppers are projected to return 1.3 million packages with UPS on National Returns Day and more than 5.8 million packages during the first full week of January 2017.”

UPS added in an announcement on its official Pressroom blog that this rise in returns in not necessary bad news. “While returns can’t be eliminated, an easy to use returns experience should be one of several retail strategies to enhance customer loyalty and manage the cost of returns processing,” said Teresa Finley, chief marketing officer for UPS, which also offers return services to make returns easier.

Finley’s opinion is that the rising return volume indicates good return policies that can improve customer loyalty.

On a related note, a recent ‘UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper’ study unveils that 70 percent of online shoppers made an additional purchase when they returned an item to a store, and 45 percent made an additional purchase when processing their return on the retailer’s website.

“Retailers are continuously improving their returns programs. The next great opportunity is to unlock the value of these returned products through a sophisticated reverse logistics program,” highlighted Finley.