How Common Are Online Returns?

Inditex, headed by its flagship brand Zara, has decided to try to curb online returns, and it is not the only company that is starting to take steps towards this end. The Spanish textile giant has started to charge 1.95 euros to customers who want to return their order online, unless they take it to a store. This measure is being applied in some thirty markets, including European markets such as the United Kingdom and Germany. One of the reasons for trying to reduce these returns, whose volume has increased as a result of the growth in online shopping that began during the pandemic, is the high economic cost they entail, but also their environmental impact and logistical implications.

According to data from Statista's Global Consumer Survey, many Europeans are in the habit of returning the products they buy online. This is especially true in Germany and Switzerland, where more than half of respondents have returned at least one item purchased online in the 12 months prior to the survey (conducted in 2021/2022). This practice appears to be even more widespread among Indian and Chinese Internet users, with 73% and 66% of them, respectively, reporting having returned a product purchased online in the last year.