Designers under threat: Put an End to the Growing Customer Returns!

How often do you see your customers return orders?

Probably often enough, unfortunately. And you’re far from being alone. Customer returns have been pretty much exploding – as per Statista, online retail suffered costs of $213 billion in 2022. This increased substantially to a record $248 billion in 2024.

Things get even trickier. Radial, the eCommerce solutions powerhouse, came out with a recent alarming report:

Post-Covid, retailers, and customers have diverged in their perspectives regarding returns. As the analysis explains here, many brands have started charging for returns due to their disruptive cost.

However, online shoppers wouldn’t have it. Some key statistics from the report:

Let us ask you then…

Would you say that customer returns have become something “standard” to your business operations? Something that you expect and are already prepared to deal with?

Are you financially ready to offer them for free?

Experts call the process of handling customer returns “reverse logistics”. Much like the standard logistics – getting the product from manufacturer to suppliers to end consumer, reverse logistics costs money.

For most companies and especially for small brands, they can be a deadly beast eating into your profit margins. For big enterprises, a boom in returns means more warehouses, new staff, and possibly even whole new departments to deal with dissatisfied customers.

These so-called reverse logistics can be even more dangerous for small businesses. Tiny indie brands or solo designers are already short on free time, so dealing with returns cuts right into that precious resource. Alternatively, if they hire someone to handle the issue they incur expenses that might risk their business becoming unprofitable.

And what about free space?

H&M can buy/rent a few new warehouses in the blink of an eye. For smaller brands – especially niche ones, space is a luxury and things get way more complicated.

The unspoken issue with customer return culture

Obviously, we’re living in times driven by something we’d dub “Return culture”. Returns are skyrocketing and the trend will continue. This has already become the new norm.

Like it or not, you need to adjust your operations accordingly. If you want to remain relevant, to remain competitive, you have to cater to this trend. Yes, you have to train and manage staff that has to be impeccable when servicing customers.

You will also need to rent extra spaces to store unwanted clothing.

However, there’s an additional factor: We’re talking about free customer returns.

Can you feel your margins become even thinner?

A while ago, UK’s Fits.me threw some additional perspective to what Radial analyzed. 90% of fashion consumers “highly value” free returns. Similar to the previous report we mentioned, UK experts found that 60% wouldn’t buy clothes online if the brand didn’t offer free returns.

These preferences are not country or industry-specific. By now, they’ve become a global rule. In other words, if you skip free returns, you’ll be effectively losing a significant portion of your customer base.

A competitor who offers this option will snatch them right away. The unspoken issue with return culture is that brands/designers are now expected to not only incur additional expenses for the process of reverse logistics.

They’re also expected to offer this to the end consumer for free.

The #1 reason you’ll see your customer returns increase

Is it really a secret?

The main driving factor behind the skyrocketing returns is…

drum roll

…The wrong size, of course!

The percentage varies depending on the particular study. Some mention it’s 60%, while others point out higher percentages. Somewhere around 72% of all returns are driven by preference-based reasons, mainly size and fit.

These slight variations don’t mean much. What matters is that all sources agree: the majority of customer returns are rooted in clothing that simply doesn’t fit.

Do you think your customers are careless and don’t know their bodies well?
Not really.

In other posts of ours, we’ve outlined several factors that contribute to customers feeling confused about the right size that will fit them.

Sure, some consumers buy with the sole idea of returning the goods after that. These are the dreaded habitual returners, often seeking that Instagram photo session or TikTok reel before they send the clothes back.

But realistically, neither you nor the majority of your customers want to experience returns. For brands like yours, returned items involve a delicate recovery process. Items can be damaged, dirty, and incur a loss for your business depending on customer usage. You’re looking at a serious time and money investment here.

Returns are an inconvenience to both sides of the business equation, yet they’re dangerously prevalent.

How Size Sense helps you minimize returns

One of our founders is a fashion brand owner, designer, and patternmaker. In other words – we fully empathize with your frustrations and anxieties. We built Size Sense to reduce returns and ensure a seamless shopping experience for your customers.

In non-corporate speak, that means we provide sizing recommendations by matching each individual product to your customers’ unique measurements and preferences.

Think of our algorithm as a personal tailor, providing an exceptionally accurate fit through a one-to-one matching approach. Unlike competitors, we also take into account additional factors like clothing fit and fabric elasticity.

The result?

Your customers are served the best options. No more guessing their right size, no more scrolling through size charts, no more impartial fitment.

We simply make shopping an enjoyable, frustration-free process for them.

In turn, this translates into better revenues for you and your business.

Our Shopify app is easy to set up and even easier to use. Give it a try and experience how it feels to run a business with minimized returns.