Published
Jan 4, 2023
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Post-Christmas returns surge due to missed delivery dates

Published
Jan 4, 2023

It’s hard for retailers to get a clear view of how they did for Christmas until the post-festivities returns window snaps shut later this month. But for now, it looks like returns are an even bigger issue than usual.


Photo: Pixabay/Public domain

 
The post-Christmas returns ‘season’ looks like being more intensive as December delivery disruptions messed up a lot of consumers’ plans. It means a massive £1.5 billion of orders are now being returned as thousands of gifts missed the Christmas Day deadline.

So the annual post-Christmas returns day, dubbed ‘Takeback Tuesday’ (3 January) increased by 25% compared to last year, according to delivery specialist ParcelHero.

Despite shoppers slashing their Christmas budgets, that huge amount of items is now heading back to retailers, largely because the usual golden quarter delays were increased by postal strikes, weather disruption, and Covid chaos in China. 

“It looks like Britons spent considerably less on presents this year,” said ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks, citing figures from YouGov that indicate planned spending on gifts fell from an average of £388 to £300.

“Even with this fall in gift purchases, we’re still seeing a significantly higher number of returns being handled by courier networks than we did last year. The chief reason is undoubtedly the fact that many items failed to arrive in time for Christmas. Some retailers… dropped their traditional mail options to ensure timely deliveries but that created knock-on delays in the alternative courier networks.”
 

Copyright © 2024 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.