Holiday Shoppers Forecasted To Return $41.6B In Products

With the growth of eCommerce sales, the number of products consumers are sending back to retailers is on the rise. As $50 billion in profits is left on the table each year, merchants are seeking new ways to contend with the problem, CNBC reported.

A study by commercial real estate services company CBRE, in conjunction with Optoro, found that shoppers are forecasted to return $41.6 billion in products purchased online this November and December. That figure is above a projection of $37 billion in 2018 and would set a new record. The data point is calculated based on shoppers returning an average of 15 to 30 percent of eCommerce purchases.

The United Parcel Service (UPS), for its part, foresees handling over one million returned packages each day during the holidays, with a peak of 1.9 million items on Jan. 2. In addition, the CBRE and Optoro report noted that the overall returns rate in the retail space continued to grow at 10 percent annually. Total returns of purchases made online and in stores over the holidays are forecasted to top $100 billion.

The retail industry loses $50 billion yearly due to inefficiencies in working with returns, per Optoro. The firm also noted that there over 10 billion cases of “needless shipments.” For instance, a product could have taken an extra, unnecessary journey to a warehouse.

Some merchants are taking measures to lessen the returns burden. Kohl’s, for instance, announced in April that it would begin taking returns for Amazon purchases at all of its locations. The department store retailer now accepts “eligible” Amazon items without a box or label. The retailer then packages the merchandise prior to sending it to one of the eCommerce retailer’s return centers.