Shoppers are spending big over the holiday weekend. Now come the returns.
Online return rates have jumped over the past five years, pitting stores against shoppers in an escalating battle. Retail chains such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Abercrombie & Fitch and Zara have cracked down, adding return fees and shortening return windows.
Shoppers are pushing back. They are reading the fine print of return policies and product reviews that they hope will help them divine the quality and fit of potential purchases. Some have stopped buying altogether from retailers that charge for returns.
So far, the tug of war doesn’t appear to be denting sales, which rose 3.4% on Black Friday compared with last year, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks purchases in stores and online. Online sales rose 14.6%, while in-store sales grew 0.7%. The figures exclude sales of automobiles and gasoline.
Retailers say the stricter policies are necessary because returns and return fraud are eating into their profits. Shoppers say inconsistency in sizing makes it difficult to buy online without ordering multiple sizes. And physical stores are often out of stock on the items they want to buy.
Priya Rednam-Waldo, a therapist and life coach, said she stopped shopping online at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus after they added restrictions. In April, Saks began charging $9.95 for returns by mail, while Neiman charges a similar fee for clearance items and those returned after 15 days.
“If I can find the time to go to a store, I’ll do that,” said Rednam-Waldo, 40, who lives in Detroit. “But I won’t gamble anymore with online purchases because of the fees.”
More than two-thirds of consumers who are aware of stricter return policies say those rules deter them from making purchases, up from 59% in 2023, according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults in July by Blue Yonder, a supply-chain management company.
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