Strong holiday retail sales volume has prompted strong return volume, United Parcel Service reports.
In December, more than one million returns occurred each day before Christmas, according to the company. In addition, January 3, dubbed National Returns Day, the company expects consumers to initiate 1.4 million returns, a fifth consecutive annual record for the day, up 8%, from the 2017 occasion.
In December 2017, consumers shipped more than 1 million returns packages to retailers per day, a pace that it expected to last through the early part of this month. As the holiday season began UPS anticipated delivering 750 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, up almost 40 million from last year’s period.
According to the 2017 UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper study, 75% of consumers have shipped returns back to a retailer, up seven points from 2016, while 79% of those surveyed said free shipping on returns is important when selecting an online retailer and 44% said the top issue encountered when returning an item online is paying for return shipping.
“While the day after Christmas used to be reserved for long return lines at department stores, the growth of e-commerce has changed when and how consumers return gifts,” said Alan Gershenhorn, UPS chief commercial officer. “A customer-friendly returns program is now an essential part of any successful e-commerce program, and UPS continues to expand its suite of innovative solutions to help shippers. “