Giving back: unwanted gifts benefit charities

It's a problem that affects all countries including Ireland but, in December, American consumers will return more than one million packages to ecommerce retailers each day. It's a flood of unwanted stuff that's expected to peak on January 2nd, which has been dubbed National Returns Day by UPS.

“For UPS and other shippers, that’s reason for plenty of post-holiday cheer. For everyone else, those tens of millions of packages are a real problem. By one recent estimate, they accounted for more than two billion kilograms of landfilled waste in the US alone and an additional 15 million tonnes of carbon emitted into the atmosphere. At a time when consumers and companies are otherwise rethinking consumption choices in light of climate change, ecommerce returns amount to a hidden environmental crisis. The “money-back guarantee” is likely as old as retail itself, and many storied brands built their reputations by honouring it.

The logistical burden of these returns is so heavy it's inspired an entire industry devoted to dealing with unwanted stuff. But the environmental toll may prove to be more significant. In 2017, Optoro Inc a company that helps retailers manage their returns, estimated that only 10 per cent of the merchandise it handles ends up back on the shelves. Some is routed to charities and some is sold on to discounters and recyclers. But the high cost of transporting, sorting, and repackaging those goods also ensures that billions of kilos of returns end up in landfills and incinerators

In 2018, Americans sent back 10 per cent of their purchases, valued at $369 billion, up from 8 per cent two years earlier. Younger shoppers in particular are more inclined to treat online purchases as rentals, or to buy clothing to try on, then return what doesn’t fit or look good. It’s a global trend: in Sweden, return rates are as high as 60 per cent for some products.

It has been suggested that companies could adopt carbon-emission labelling on return packages for instance, or stop providing ready-made return labels altogether, which would easily eliminate the use of millions of pieces of paper. They could also experiment with “returnless refunds” for products that can’t be sold again, such as under-garments, cosmetics, and packaged foods. As augmented reality and touch-oriented technologies become more common and affordable, online fashion retailers could deploy them in “digital dressing rooms”.

So long as there are shoppers, of course, there will be returns. But with a little added effort from retailers and consumers and perhaps some ingenuity they can be friendlier to the bottom line and the planet. – Bloomberg