Online Retailers Averaged 1 Million Returns in December

UPS is expecting a record 1.4 million returns on Jan. 3 after averaging more than 1 million returns every day before Christmas in December.

Record breaking Black Friday and Cyber Week e-commerce sales produced a flood of package deliveries for UPS as as well as large numbers of returns. The number of returns is expected to peak on Jan. 3,  National Returns Day, up 8% from the year prior and the fifth consecutive annual record.

“While the day after Christmas used to be reserved for long return lines at department stores, the growth of e-commerce has changed when and how consumers return gifts,” said Alan Gershenhorn, chief commercial officer. “A customer-friendly returns program is now an essential part of any successful e-commerce program, and UPS continues to expand its suite of innovative solutions to help shippers. This season, UPS added Returns Manager, a free platform that allows e-commerce merchants to customize return shipments according to their e-tailer policy.”

According to a 2017 UPS online shopping study, 75% of consumers have shipped returns back to the retailer, and as a result, many business have added or expanded return offerings.

“A simple and speedy experience should be part of the retailer’s toolkit to help increase customer loyalty while managing the cost of processing these returns,” said Gershenhorn.