60% of US retail professionals say charging customers for returns has resulted in an increase of adoption in their free return methods, while 54% say it has cut down on return rates, according to a September 2024 survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Happy Returns.

With the holiday season in the rearview mirror, our analysts are already looking ahead to what the rest of this year—including the 2025 holiday season—will look like. This year will be defined by unpredictability, as President Trump begins his second term during a time of mixed consumer sentiments. Here are four trends our analysts expect will continue in 2025.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how the election influenced consumers' shopping habits, why returns spiked, and some way too early predictions for the 2025 holiday season. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Senior Analyst Zak Stambor and Analyst Rachel Wolff.

Over half of retailer executives say that they implemented a return fee to discourage customers from initiating returns, according to October 2024 data from Optoro. Thirty-nine percent of executives said they launched a fee to discourage excessive or abusive returns, while 20% said it is to make it difficult or discourage customers from returning products.

Offering a seamless returns process can help merchants win repeat shoppers.

Retailers are prioritizing unified commerce solutions to help gain a complete picture of their business operations—including consumer behavior. As the tech landscape becomes more complex, key players are emerging across channels.

Retailers can distinguish their brands via the post-purchase experience: A handwritten note, branded packaging, or free gifts with an order are more likely to inspire repeat purchases.

Over three quarters (78%) of US consumers say they’re likely to return packages to a convenient, attended location inside, according to a June 2024 survey from Narvar. Nearly as many (71%) would use home pickup for their returns at a time they select.

The average cart abandonment rate worldwide was 73.9% in the 12 months ending July 2024, according to data from Dynamic Yield.

Amazon returns partnership is a huge hassle for Kohl’s, Staples employees: Despite an increase in foot traffic, the constant deluge of packages fails to deliver the expected sales bump.

Amazon’s pricing and returns policies draw complaints from sellers: Merchants flag lost revenues, higher fees, and inadequate seller support as reasons for their discontent.

“When retailers can offer a delivery experience that the consumer expects, the consumer is less likely to abandon their cart,” said our analyst Blake Droesch. More than one-third (36%) of US consumers abandoned an order last year because shipping costs were too high and another 29% did so because their items wouldn’t arrive on time, per an August 2023 report by Digital Commerce 360.

Ecommerce growth accelerated during the 2023 holiday season as US consumers shifted more of their shopping to mobile devices.

An extended returns policy is the No. 1 experience-based reward that US adults would be most interested in receiving from brands, per Ebbo’s October 2023 survey.

Online return rates are finally coming down from recent highs. But as ecommerce's share of retail sales grows, so will returns from online sales.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how Walmart plans to use AI to enhance the customer shopping experience, Instacart pushing smart carts into in-store retail media, why consumers are dissatisfied with their in-store shopping experience, how best to reduce clothing returns, the rise—and potential fall—of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our vice president of content Suzy Davidkhanian and analysts Blake Droesch and Carina Perkins.

To help keep return volumes down, retailers are trying everything from implementing return fees to ensuring product descriptions are as accurate and detailed as possible. But there are still a couple of out-of-the-box solutions that they could try, like leveraging peer-to-peer solutions to cut down on logistics costs or being more cautious around inspiring impulse purchases.

The network also forecasts a surge in ecommerce returns, per its 2024 economic outlook

A generous return policy can encourage consumer spending and inspire loyalty. On the other hand, a policy that makes it more costly or inconvenient for customers to return their items could sting a retailer’s bottom line. Here are some short- and long-term ways return policies can affect retailers, and ways to avoid charging customers a fee to cover return costs.

81% of US adult digital shoppers review return policies before making a first-time purchase, and 55% will abandon their cart if return policies aren’t convenient, per a Happy Returns report commissioned by PayPal.