Study: Peak holiday online returns growth outpaced sales growth

The rate of returns on Cyber Week 2023 purchases reached a surprisingly fast pace.

According to the new Aftership E-Commerce Returns report, sales reached $38 billion during Cyber Week 2023, up 7.8% from 2022, driven primarily by record spending on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  But as sales increased, so did returns. Compared to 2022, Aftership data indicates that returns were up 15% for Cyber Week 2023, nearly doubling the pace of recorded sales growth. 

This pattern also extended beyond Cyber Week, according to Aftership analysis with December 2023 consistently seeing the highest monthly volume of returns.

Returns Growth Rate by Year (2021-2023)

Source: E-commerce Returns Report, Aftership, 2024

Additional key findings from AfterShip include:

• Impact of automation: Merchants who leveraged automation for returns approval experienced a substantial 100% reduction in the time taken to process returns.
• Fashion and accessories set the trend: Three in four returns in 2023 were for the fashion and accessories industry.
• Freedom of choice: Analyzed retailers who enabled three or more return resolution options had a revenue retention rate of more than 30%.

“Retailers are seeing a greater need for streamlined and robust returns solutions. Those who are prepared earlier are more well-equipped to handle the growing volume of both online sales and returns,” said Andrew Chan, chief marketing officer at AfterShip. “Our report demonstrates that although peak return times remain consistent, it’s essential to optimize the process year-round to know what works best for your customers and remain competitive.”

Study: Returns increase despite strict policies

In other relevant returns data, a recent survey from Blue Yonder found that while 89% of retailers having changed their returns policies in the past 12 months to make them more expensive for consumers, or otherwise tightening the restrictions around returns, more than half (59%) experienced an increase in the rate of returns over that same period. 

The results indicate that 63% of retailers face significant challenges with the management of returns as customers increasingly turn to online shopping options.