Returns Are the Retail Industry’s Quietly Mounting Logistics Problem | WSJ

Customer returns are skyrocketing in the U.S., but many items don’t go back to retailers’ shelves. WSJ looks into the complicated process and how retailers are responding to increasing returns.

Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann

#Returns #Retail #WSJ

[samuraiska]

I work in Reverse Logistics. We always talk about how crazy how much stuff we get in daily. Especially after the holidays.
Some items never used. Never opened and sometimes have to destroy perfectly good items.

[bobthemagicmoose]

I remember returning an unopened bag of chocolates to a brick and mortar target. The associate happily took my return and immediately threw it in the trash, i was stunned. Since then, I've been a bit more careful about my purchases.

[ScrapPalletMan]

As a dumpster diving channel, I see so many corporations using my local landfill as part of their business plan. Pathetically irresponsibly environmentally criminal

[kzubersky]

You can't completely blame the consumer. Too many times items being sold on Amazon have misleading pictures, inaccurate descriptions, inconsistent sizes, fake reviews, or they are straight up knock offs. I would put a lot of the blame on Amazon for not monitoring third party sellers. Is this container of vitamins coming straight from Amazon? Or did a third party seller fish it out of a dumpster behind Whole Foods? Will this dress be the one in the listing? Or will it be a poor knockoff from AliExpress? Will this medium t-shirt fit me? Or will it be five sizes too small because it's not in American sizes. I like shopping on Amazon but it can be a frustrating experience.

[waverly]

I once worked in an Avon warehouse. We had to process unsold merchandise. I couldn't believe how much of it there was, like after Christmas. Much of it was hazardous, like aerosol products and perfume, which is flammable. Some of it had to be put in steel drums, headed for a toxic waste landfill.

[LittleRadicalThinker]

When the world flooded with single use items, low quality items, unhealthy foods, and crushing low wages, then the retailers still want to make profit and expect consumers to pay for what they brought to us, cheap, unhealthy foods, low quality items, single use items. Returns is a normal thing to do. Don’t blame consumers when the retailers want market dominance and forever expansion and forever profitability. Manufacturers/retailers need to be responsible to make sure the returns are taken care of, not the consumers. So many years the consumers have been blamed for no reason. Consumers simply doing what consumers should do. Consumers have no knowledge and no tools, and most of the time are misled by the retailers/manufacturers to buy. This return problem should be resolved at the manufacturers, make products in a more thoughtful way, not just cheap low quality no use products, and we should not need so many clothes, we only need 4 seasons of fashion shows.

[lizhopkins]

I always consider buying in-person when it comes to clothing. I know that’s not an option for everyone, but it really doesn’t save me the energy of having to return something. Also, if I buy something I’m likely to keep it or give it to someone who can use it.

[DavidDavisDH]

I work at Ikea in the "Recovery" department, we resale 70% of what gets returned, it's not perfect but we resale a lot of what gets returned back in the "AS IS" section of the store.

[derpmanTV]

Worked at an Amazon returns warehouse location for about a week. Carts upon carts of returned product were just being violently dumped into enormous boxes to be moved elsewhere, like you see being opened at 1:40.

[FinancialShinanigan]

Explains why Target tells me to keep, recycle, or donate when I try to return some items

[lunayen]

This is putting the blame (again) on consumers. Companies always act like they are victims when they were the ones to introduce poorly fitted items or never have things you need in stock in their brick and mortar stores. Sure, people returning goods for petty reasons need to be stopped. Retailers can post videos of the product without gimmicks, add reviews and lots of pictures in the description along with a "wait before you buy" policy can help consumers, but more importantly, they need to bring back good quality products.

[stephanied]

Since 2020 I’ve been very mindful about things I buy. I realized I don’t need 70% of it. It’s actually freeing to not be a slave to debt and a cluttered home.

[youweremymuse]

If sizing was accurate and standard across all companies it would make online shopping so much easier. I have tried on so many pairs of jeans that are listed as my size that don't fit me at all. I recently bought a dress and made sure to check the sizing chart and measure myself with a tape measure. I was smack dab in the middle of what a medium should be. I got it in and it was way too big for me! It's so frustrating. Thankfully I can sew but if not I would've had to return it.

[KatieGrady]

A lot of stores with fitting rooms are still closed in our area. Unfortunately, even if something seems like it will be the perfect fit… sometimes it’s just not. Not having a fitting room available has been by far the most common reason for my family to have to make a return.

[maagu]

Regarding returns: No more fitting rooms due to the COVID crisis puts brick and mortar retailers close to on par with online retailers. Add that to the equation.

[dimplesd]

Why can’t they open the warehouse and just sell the stuff? This is amazing. I never thought the items went to a warehouse. I thought they went back and was resold. Yikes!

[maagu]

Online shoppers need sellers who give more ACCURATE details to there products, like size, materials and care instructions.

[butwhytho]

This is not a consumer issue. This is a cheap Chinese knock off issue and almost fraud by listings. No standard size in clothing. On and on. Add to that the large companies want to keep that stock market line in a positive direction no matter what cost. So let’s over promise, over sell, and under staff. Our WORLD has a major issue with world wide retail giants. It’s time we start holding them accountable. Not just call this a consumer issue.

[pamelahomeyer]

So how much of this is going to homeless shelters or needy families??? There are plenty of places that are legitimate nonprofits where you can get a tax deduction

[viniciussouza]

Fun fact: there is this tale of a trucking and logistics company in Brazil that went bankrupt due to excess damaged goods. They handled a large volume of a major ecommerce store here and if they damage the goods, their client will discount the full amount from their service invoice, this trucking company then sold these damaged items to their employees... Their employees started to damage some goods on purpose, like, they would punch a refrigerator so the end customer wouldn't accept it and neither would the ecommerce, they did so cause they knew they'd somehow would be buying it at a discount. This went on and the trucking debt with their customer kept increasing to a point where they stopped receiving cargoes - their SLA was down and the ecommerce started to worry about the mounting debt. They went bankrupt after that.