Buy now, try later: online clothing sales boom raises qualms over returns

theguardian.com:

“I bought and returned seven pairs of trainers during lockdown,” says Kate from Sussex. “I often order the same thing in two different sizes or two different colours and then return what I don’t like or what doesn’t fit. I never thought I would buy clothes online when the internet first started offering this, but I’m now very happy to.”

Kate is just one of millions of shoppers who, spurred on by the closure of physical stores during months of pandemic lockdowns, now regularly buys and returns goods online.

Up to half of clothing bought online is returned, depending on the retailer. Shoppers sent back an estimated £6.3bn of online purchases, including clothing, in 2020 and that figure is expected to rise by 9% by 2025, according to analysts at GlobalData.

Since the Covid lockdowns ended, returns have shot up as more fitted items – especially dresses – have come back into vogue, as shoppers are more likely to buy two products to make sure their purchase is suitable.

“With the cost-of-living crisis in play, many consumers will be more ruthless with their purchases, only keeping those that they are fully confident are suitable and good value,” says Patrick O’Brien, an analyst at GlobalData.

More than 40% of shoppers now expect to return at least one item when they place an order – up from 30% pre-pandemic – according to the returns specialist ZigZag Global, as the chief executive, Al Gerrie, says people “got comfortable with online shopping” during lockdowns and some are reluctant to return to the high street.

He says trends such as wardrobing, where an item is worn out before being returned, and staging, where the item is tried on for pictures on social media before being sent back, are also on the rise. These trends are thought