Midwestern U.S. has highest rate of holiday returns

Irvine, Calif. -- Statistics released by The Retail Equation, gathered during the seven days after Christmas, revealed that the Midwest states had the highest rate of returns, when comparing total dollars purchased to total dollars returned and exchanged.



Ohio led the pack with a rate of returns of 25.6%; Illinois had the second highest with 24.8%. The state with the least rate of returns was Nevada with 16%. The Retail Equation’s data also indicated that the highest rate of returns nationwide occurred at 12:42 p.m. (Pacific Time) on Dec. 26. And, while Dec 26 had the highest total returns, almost 3x the typical number of returns during the holiday season, there were 4 other days that more than doubled the normal return volumes.



“Return rates in the Midwest were higher than the rest of the country this past holiday season, which we attribute to the continued sluggish economy in the region,” said David Speights, chief statistician at The Retail Equation. “However, if managed properly, holiday returns offer a source of good consumer traffic for retailers’ end-of-year sales objectives.”