Most Frequently Returned Items: Insights into Online Shopping Trends

by Patty Merchant Dec 14, 2024

You may want to return the ugly sweater, the book you already read, or the car care kit you do not need after the holiday season. Well-meaning but misplaced purchases often leave gift recipients wishing they had the cash for the item instead. Yet, consider a bit more about which products are the most returned and why.

During the mid-20th century, companies engaged in ever-increasing strategies to entice buyers to choose their location over their competitors. One way they did this was by promising a money-back guarantee. After World War II, the concept grew quickly, and today, it’s quite common for shoppers to buy with the expectation that they can return an item if it does not fit their needs.

What are the most returned products? It may not be surprising to learn that clothing is at the top of the list. However, the advent of online purchases offers a new and interesting concept around online shopping return trends.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the interesting statistics and details about the most frequently returned items and a few online shopping trends that could surprise you.

What Are the Most Returned Products?

Data from Statista shows that about 24% of all returns fall into the clothing category, easily making it the most returned online purchase category today. A Shopify survey also noted that 25% of all returns are clothing, with another 18% falling into the categories of bags, accessories, and shoes. The third highest category was food and beverage, resulting in about 13% returns.

Why Are the Most Products Returned?

Why do people return items? Learning this could help retailers to reduce that loss considerably, but the question could be answered in a number of ways. A DealNews survey found that the overwhelming majority of people – about 65% of online shoppers- return items because they do not fit. Consider these other statistics:

• 56% of items were damaged or defective
• 44% of items were returned because the buyer did not like it
• 31% were returned because the item failed to match the expectations of the buyer based on the description
• 13% returned items because they found a better price from someone else
• 12% stated they returned an item they no longer needed
• 11% report buyer’s remorse
• 11% ordered the wrong item

What Is the Trend in Online Shopping Returns Now?

Consider some interesting online shopping return trends, like that from a recent Shopify survey. It found that consumers returned $743 billion of products in 2023, which is about 14.3% of all retail sales. That’s costly to companies, with the National Retail Foundation (NRF) stating it resulted in about $400 billion in losses for retailers in the US.

According to one report, the average return rate for just online purchases is 17.6% of all purchases. However, the average return rate for physical stores is lower at 10.02%. In 2023, the overall retail return rate stood at 14.5% in 2023.

What Product Is Purchased the Most Online Over Others?

Another interesting topic concerns what people are buying, as that could influence why returns are high in one area and lower in another. According to Statista, about 43% of online purchases fall into the clothing category, and 33% are shoes, according to their survey of 10,109 people across the US.

What Happens to Most Returned Items Bought Online?

When those items – billions of dollars worth – are turned, what happens to them? Though most people assume a product sold to a consumer and returned just goes back into rotation to head out to the next buyer, that’s not what happens. In fact, it is rare for a returned item to be returned to regular inventory and then sold again at full price, according to The New Yorker.

There’s good reason for some of those returns. For example, if you buy a tree from Home Depot and it dies, they take the plant back and refund your money. They cannot resell that item. Another example is Petco. If a customer purchases a fish there or any other small pet and that pet dies within a short period of time, they will take that item back.

Do Stores Use Returned Items?

Yes and no. To answer this question, we have to think about the actual processes of returns. Amazon, for example, does not send out the same product twice in most categories. Instead, the item goes through a reverse logistics process. That starts with triage, so to speak, to determine the condition of the item. A new, unopened box in good overall condition may be possible to resell. A box that’s busted open, perhaps missing a few components, or taped back up isn’t likely to be sold any where near full price.

Any time a product’s seal is broken, it is not going to be put back on the shelf. It is possible for a large portion of these items to be “junked,” meaning they are simply tossed out. This is called destroy in field, or DIF, in the industry. Companies like Home Goods could put an item back on the shelf, but instead, they may simply damage it further and toss it out. The reasoning has nothing to do with waste or filling landfills but rather all to do with protecting the company’s brand image and optimizing where they spend their time within their business.

Many companies will take returns and sell them as is, often at a deeply discounted price. If Best Buy sells an open box item, for example, they put a guarantee on it, reduce the cost, and still get it out the door only after having their techs ensure it seems to be in good working order. The customer gets a great deal, and the item may still be past profit margins.

Still, other situations involve packaging items in bulk and sending them off to sell in bulk at deep discounts. Companies, including outlets and second-hand stores, as well as resellers, purchase those bulk items to resell.

How Can I Make Online Returns Easier?

One of the needs consumers have is finding a way to return items faster and more efficiently. After all, that is the promise of online purchases - the ability to benefit from the extreme ease of sales. Yet, returns can be challenging.

Retailers can offer several ways to make returns easier:

• Create a reasonable return policy that lets consumers return items in the same condition within a certain amount of time.
• Being flexible during the holiday season to extend the return window behind Christmas.
• Offer alternatives to going to the post office. For example, Amazon allows consumers to drop off returns directly to Kohls without requiring them to pay for shipping.

Knowing the limitations and requirements of retailers is also important for a consumer. While large companies may have rather lucrative return policies, not all local companies can afford to pay for a shipping label to send the item back.

Do Stores Penalize for Frequent Returns?

When it comes to common returns, some stores do penalize consumers who return items frequently. Some companies, such as Walmart, will limit the number of returns it takes from online purchases. Other stores, such as Home Depot, Best Buy, and Victoria’s Secret, do the same. REI and Target do so as a way to combat fraud and minimize the risk of selling something at a lower sale price, only to have to pay a higher return value later, as noted in a recent ABC News piece.

What Products Have the Lowest Return Rate?

What about the other side of the coin? There are some products that are less likely to be returned. The least likely items to be returned include:

• Lawn and garden supplies
• Electronics
• Pet supplies
• Home goods
• Beauty products

What Is the Return Rate for Online Shopping?

Though there are several different surveys out there, Statista data shows that $1.3 trillion in US online sales were returns, or about 16.5% of all purchases.

Returns Are Common and Expected

Any time an item goes through the reverse logistics process, it costs the company money to sell it. Returns are not always unjust, as defects in product design are very common reasons for them. Yet, for retailers, dealing with buyer’s remorse and trying to navigate the cost of shipping, warehousing, and reselling are also challenges.

There’s no doubt common returns will continue to happen. Having a bit of insight into these online shopping returns trends could give you some insight into why you may want to toss that red sweater back to the retailer for a blue one instead.

The responses below are not provided, commissioned, reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any financial entity or advertiser. It is not the advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.