UPS is anticipating a surge of returns this holiday season, leading into the new year. According to the company, 1.6 million packages are expected to be returned daily the week of December 16 leading into Christmas. And a record-breaking 1.9 million returns are expected to take place on this year’s peak returns day—January 2—up 26% over last year.
“As ecommerce retailers continue to provide more return-friendly policies, shoppers are buying and returning more online than ever before,” said Andrew Lipsman, eMarketer principal analyst. “While the post-Christmas frenzy is to be expected, the fact that Hanukkah falls so late in December this year means that returns will be extra-concentrated in late December and early January.”
To better understand the state of online shopping and what may lead consumers to return items, UPS polled more than 17,000 digital buyers worldwide between December 2018 and January 2019, all of whom made at least two online orders that required delivery in the three months prior to the survey. More than a third (36%) of respondents returned an item in the three months before the study.
Returns can happen for a variety of reasons and, for the most part, there isn't one clear indicator of why consumers return items. Three in 10 digital buyers worldwide ages 17 and older said they returned a digitally purchased item because it was either faulty or damaged. Nearly as many respondents said the items were not as described (27%) or poor quality (27%). And one in five respondents said they ordered more than one of an item likely to try and get the right fit.