eCommerce Market Update

24 November 2023

by Sam Cullen

Topic of the week – Handling the Holiday Returns Rush

Today is the day that everyone residing in the eCommerce and retail sphere anticipate, Black Friday. Once the day is over you can then expect the Cyber Monday rush and then increasing volumes leading all the way up to Christmas. The holiday period, as we all know, is a busy time for online stores, some struggle to handle the influx of orders while some struggle with what comes next. Returns. January is the busiest month for handling returns and even the period between Black Friday and Christmas sees up to half of clothing bought online, sent back. Last year, UK shoppers returned over £4.1 billion of clothing purchased online according to GlobalData. This figure is forecasted to increase by 16.7% by 2027. In 2022 overall retail returns throughout the Christmas shopping period in the UK increased by 57% and 16% globally, according to RetailVoices. Therefore, it is now more important than ever to prepare for the returns mayhem with a robust returns proposition and management system.

Having a solid Returns Management foundation means that the strategy and processes that you have in place to handle your returns operates efficiently and is as streamlined as possible. This covers the whole returns process, from the customer back to your warehouse, sorting hub, or retail stores. Your management system to consider all aspects such as tracking, inspection, restocking, refunds or exchanges and the customer’s initial return request, otherwise known as returns merchandise authorisation.

The other integral parts of managing returns effectively come down to your returns policy and software. If you have your own returns processes chances are you know how they work and what your pain points are. If you don’t, you could always think about outsourcing this process to someone like Pro Carrier for example.

Your Returns Policy needs to be clear and to the point so that your customers know exactly where they stand, and hopefully this should reduce the amount of customer service enquiries that you receive. You should outline a clear line of communication and timeframe for returning items. Your policy also needs to be flexible in terms of options from sending the parcel back through drop off points, collection or lockers etc. as well as the options post return such as refund or exchange. You should also be transparent in your conditions for returns for example if a clothing item has been worn outside or shows signs of wear etc.

In terms of returns management software, this is something that should be on your radar. Integrating returns software can make the whole process a lot easier and more streamlined. You can automate communications and refund processing for example as well as giving not only the customer but yourself full tracking visibility and awareness of where the return is at each stage of the journey.

Topic of the week – Handling the Holiday Returns Rush

In other news

TikTok shop has announced its new partnership with Royal Mail. The social media platform’s growing eCommerce shopping experience hosts merchants of all sizes. TikTok says that this new partnership will help all merchants on the platform improve their delivery experience no matter their size. Royal Mail’s Click & Drop service will be integrated into TikTok shop which will allow merchants to arrange shipments quicker and easier making the experience better for both merchants and their customers.

eCommerce Market Stats

See some statistics relating to this week’s topics in the eCommerce market below.

Holiday Returns Stats

At least 10% of orders were returned in each week between November 2022 and January 2023
Returns for online order increased by 70% in the period between Christmas and New Years
13% of all orders placed during the holiday period in the USA were returned in 2022
Holiday season returns experienced a 63% year on year increase in 2022

*All statistics sourced from Insider Intelligence, DigitalCommerce360, QueueIt