A quarter of UK retailers charge customers for returns, study finds

In 20% of cases, customers are expected to arrange the return entirely themselves.

Tobias Buxhoidt, founder and Chief Executive of parcelLab, said: “For consumers and retailers alike, returns continue to be one of the biggest pain points when it comes to online shopping”.

He continued: “With the upcoming peak shopping season sitting against a backdrop of rising costs and reduced spending, it is more important than ever to give shoppers a seamless and positive returns experience”.

The report also found that, despite the heavy focus on sustainability within the logistics industry, 87% of retailers fail to offer paperless returns.

Furthermore, the report suggests that communication during the reverse logistics process is in need of improvement, with 46% of carriers and 16% of retailers not sending customers a single message during returns.