Online shops offer free returns for fear of loss

Online stores find it difficult to charge fees for returns, for fear that customers will stay away. With the holidays approaching, the number of packages in the mail is also increasing. This applies not only to the route to the customer, but also to the route back to the manufacturer. This is maintained by the web shops themselves.

Wehkamp introduced it earlier this year: costs per item for returns. In this way it hopes to discourage people from ordering multiple sizes, for example. However, Wehkamp has not proven to be a trendsetter in this regard: a third of web shops charge money for it, but the majority do not. They are afraid that this will cause them to lose a lot of income because people may be less likely to place an order.

Paid returns

Clothing, shoes and personal care items are the most common items in returns. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets says that consumers returned an average of 12.3 percent of packages over the past two years, while this was still 11.4 percent in 2021. This is a striking increase because virtually no costs were charged for returns in 2021. Wehkamp has seen a decrease in the number of returns: 14 percent.

There are other ways in which online stores try to reduce the number of returns, such as virtual fitting rooms and AI, but customers still have to get used to this, which is why it is not yet used that much, Daniel Verheij of Twinkle100 told NOS. He says that it is difficult for online stores to introduce it, because if the competitor does not do this, customers are more likely to choose that online store.

Free returns

There are still many major companies that offer free returns. Zalando, Bol and MediaMarkt, for example. Online shops that also have physical stores often charge money for shipping, but returns in the store are free. According to Tom Sans of Sans Online, which charges 3.95 euros for returns, it is no longer a thing of the past for online stores to proclaim in large letters that returns are free. However, some online stores see it as a service, such as Zalando. It does not seem that these shops will exchange ideas quickly, so it is partly up to the customer to make more conscious choices.