Returns are e-commerce’s great paradox.

We return too much-and too little.

On one side, there’s the “fitting room at home” mindset. Nearly three in ten customers order multiple sizes or colors right from the start, knowing most of it will go back. It’s convenient, sure. But it’s also a model neither the climate nor retailers’ profitability can sustain long term. Free returns have created a culture where we’ve stopped reflecting on the consequences.

On the other side, some people skip returns altogether. Three in ten Swedes would rather shove a wrong purchase to the back of the closet than deal with a complicated return process. The result? Unused products that eventually end up in the trash. And that’s almost more absurd: an item that could have had a second life with someone else simply disappears from circulation.

E-commerce faces a difficult balancing act. 

Many retailers are starting to draw the line: return fees, restrictions, even banning customers who send too much back. Our State of Returns 2025 report shows that one in three shoppers change their behavior when fees are added: they become more selective. But the majority shop as before. Nearly half avoid retailers that charge for returns altogether. In other words: fees can slow the return flood, but they also risk driving customers away.

The return experience has become a loyalty trigger. Three in ten customers have been dissatisfied at some point and of those, 83% say they never go back to the same retailer. Just one bad experience can cost you a customer forever.

Do you dare to simplify the return process?

And here’s where Swedish retailers have a real opportunity. Forty-three percent of consumers prefer local shops over international giants like Shein or Temu, precisely because they fear complicated returns. If you dare to make the return process simple, sustainable and fair, it becomes a competitive edge.

Because let’s face it: returns cost money, relationships and is bad for the environment. But punishing customers won’t win the game. The future winners will be the retailers who truly understand their customers, who make it easy to get purchases right the first time and who handle mistakes with respect.

How to cut returns – without losing customers

• Help shoppers choose right from the start. Detailed size guides, photos from multiple angles, customer reviews.

• Use technology smartly. Virtual fitting rooms and AI-driven recommendations can drastically reduce wrong purchases.

• Offer human support. A quick chat or personal advice can make all the difference in uncertain buying situations.

• Make returns smooth and fair. A messy process creates more unhappy customers than the wrong purchase itself.

• Be transparent. Show the real environmental cost of returns. More people than you think want to make conscious choices.

We’ll never escape returns. But how we handle them says a lot about the kind of commerce we want for the future: disposable and short-sighted or smart, sustainable, and
customer-focused.