Until now, we have focused on shopping and sales. Looking at the behavior of consumers and the tactics of firms. For example, see Holiday 2019 Revenues Expected to Reach $1 Trillion. Ready-Set – Shop. And One Tactic Will Drive a Lot of Holiday Shopping. Now, we consider handling holiday returns. Which is becoming more and more complex.
Related posts include:
A 2019 Look at Handling Holiday Returns
Due to the rapid growth of online shopping, returns take on greater importance. As a result, both customers and companies must plan differently than before.
In the following discussion, we cover online shopping. Why? Because the customer returns involve more players in the supply chain.
According to Lucy Koch, writing for eMarketer:
“UPS anticipates a surge of returns this holiday season. Leading into the new year. According to the company, 1.6 million packages are expected to be returned daily the week of December 16 leading into Christmas. And a record-breaking 1.9 million returns are expected to take place on this year’s peak returns day — January 2 — up 26% over last year.”
“’As E-commerce retailers continue to provide more return-friendly policies, shoppers are buying and returning more online than ever before,’ said Andrew Lipsman, eMarketer principal analyst. ‘While the post-Christmas frenzy is to be expected, the fact that Hanukkah falls so late in December this year means that returns will be extra-concentrated in late December and early January.’”
Here are two eMarketer charts on holiday returns.
