This holiday season, online shoppers may notice a shift in return policies with retailers increasingly advising them to keep unwanted items. This trend, revealed by goTRG's 2023 Holiday Survey, shows that 59% of retailers, including majors like Amazon and Walmart, now offer "keep it" policies — up from 26% last year. This shift aims to reduce the high costs and environmental impact of shipping, sorting, and reselling returns. goTRG CEO Sender Shamiss highlights that retailers are discreet about these policies to prevent fraud and abuse.
Returns surged in 2021 and stayed elevated last year, when they accounted for $816.8 billion in lost sales across the U.S. retail marketplace, according to data from the National Retail Federation leading 90% of retailers to modify their policies, such as introducing return fees and promoting in-store returns. Amazon, for instance, is labeling frequently returned items to reduce unnecessary returns. These measures are part of a larger strategy to manage the complexities of online returns.
