There are more UK retailers that charge fees for returning online-purchased items
Many retailers include Mountain Warehouse, THG (THG.LMoss Bros and TMZ are now charging a fee for online shoppers who wish to return products purchased online.
Moss Bros menswear retailer, Mountain Warehouse sportswear retailer, and online retailer and technology group the Hut Group have all introduced fees for customers to return purchased items. The Telegraph.
THG, which owns brands including Lookfantasic, MyProtein and Glossybox, now charges £2.99 per order for returns while Mountain Warehouse introduced a £2 fee from late October.
Learn more Seven tips for unwanted Christmas gifts
Moss Bros stated that it had received a fee from the market after reviewing it. Its customers can opt for a free Royal Mail service or pay £2.99 for a courier to pick up the item.
Mountain Warehouse introduced a £2 charge for orders made after 29 October, which is deducted from the total refund.
Expect more companies to follow suit, especially in fashion where there has been an increase of returns rates.
This move follows retailers Zara (and Boohoo)BOO.LLast year, ) implemented charges for returning items. This was part of a wider industry shift to recover the increasing fulfilment costs associated with online returns.
ReBound claims that one third of fashion items purchased online are returned. This is almost twice the rate for shop-bought items.
Learn more Fraud alert: Five bank scams to watch out for 2023
Customers have been treating fast fashion retailers like a two-stage transaction for years. Buy multiple sizes of the same items and send back the ones that don’t fit. This is costing a lot of money and the only way to discourage this activity is to start charging customers to return products,” Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell, said.
“Although this action risks dampening demand, more retailers are going down this path and so it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.”
KPMG projects that up to half the online clothing will be returned by 2020. This was costing businesses around £7bn every year.