Product Returns

How Retailers Can Mitigate Return Policy Abuse
June 25, 2025 at 2:39 pm

It’s no surprise that, due to the recent tumultuous economic backdrop, consumers are shifting their shopping habits to find the best deals, choose brands that have lenient return policies, and make the most of the money they do choose to spend. A recent survey of consumers in the U.S. and U.K. explored the overarching theme…

Retailers Are Tapping Advanced Analytics Partners to Help Reduce Returns and Combat Fraud
April 9, 2025 at 8:39 pm

Product returns continue to be a growing source of friction for the retail industry, with $685 billion in merchandise returned in the U.S. last year. However, retailers can convert these returns into exchanges, while also improving fraud detection and optimizing production selection, by leveraging a combination of advanced artificial intelligence-powered data analytics and customer service…

How REBEL is Tackling Retail's Returns Problem
April 8, 2025 at 9:12 pm

While attending Shoptalk 2025 in Las Vegas from March 25-27, Total Retail's Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan had the opportunity to interview Emily Hosie, founder and CEO of REBEL, formerly REBELStork, a Certified B Corp and the leading tech-driven recommerce solution for returns and overstock in North America. Hosie provides an overview of the business, her career…

Staying Secure: Making Returns Friction-Free Year-Round
March 25, 2025 at 12:03 pm

Last year, global retail e-commerce sales surpassed $4.1 trillion, underscoring the continued growth of online shopping and the critical need for seamless, secure digital experiences. As e-commerce expands, retailers face the increasing challenge of managing returns. With more online purchases comes a higher volume of returns, often accompanied by greater risks of fraud and digital…

What Consumers Want: Trends in Returns and How Retailers Can Adapt
March 18, 2025 at 11:27 am

Retailers have long tried to discourage returns by making the process inconvenient, hoping to avoid the financial burden of return logistics. That approach is no longer viable. Today’s customers expect returns to be just as seamless as their original purchase, and those expectations are reshaping the industry. A new report from the National Retail Federation…

Tackling Return Fraud: How Retailers Can Protect Themselves in the E-Commerce Era
March 12, 2025 at 5:41 pm

Return fraud has become a major concern for retailers, costing the industry in the U.S. an estimated $103 billion in 2024, or 15.14 percent of all returns. As online shopping continues to grow, fraudulent returns are becoming increasingly sophisticated, posing significant financial and operational challenges for businesses. The Growing Problem of Return Fraud Return fraud…

To Fight Returns Fraud, Retailers Need Smarter — Not Tighter — Policies
March 11, 2025 at 9:32 am

Returns have always posed a challenge for retailers. They’re expensive, logistically challenging, and (too often) devoid of adequate oversight. However, now there’s a new factor to consider: returns fraud. What used to be a relatively rare, isolated occurrence has now become more sophisticated thanks to social media and advanced technology. Internet users from all over…

Post-Holiday Retail Reinvented: How AI Streamlines Returns, Logistics, and Customer Service
February 10, 2025 at 11:47 am

With the holiday season behind us, retailers have refocused their efforts on addressing the flood of service requests that typically follow. You can count on a surge of returns and exchanges to process, as well as items that arrived damaged or defective. Purchasers and gift recipients will have questions about policies, receipt requirements, and return…

How Brands and Customers Can Hate Returns Less
January 21, 2025 at 9:22 pm

In November, REI reached out to 4,800 people with an email to let them know they would never be able to make another return due to past abuse. Other brands including Saks Fifth Avenue and Target have updated their policies to refuse returns and send items back if they suspect fraud or if a product…