Retailers Really, Really Don’t Want Your Holiday Returns This Year

Retailers Really, Really Don’t Want Your Holiday Returns This Year

When one shopper tried to return a Samsung sound bar she bought on sale from Walmart on Black Friday, the retailer asked her to please keep the item, even while issuing a full refund. This is what it's come to. Even when retailers agree to take rejected gifts off customers' hands, they're more likely this Christmukkah season to require shoppers to pay for return shipping and restocking than in the past. It's all part of the same message to shoppers during the post-holiday return rush: We're sorry you got something you don't want, but we don't want it either. Even though retailers never enjoy taking back the tsunami of things that get returned after the holidays, they have reason to be distinctly less excited this year. They've worked hard in recent months to clear out stores and warehouses bursting with excess inventory, as consumer preferences shifted rapidly away from furniture, loungewear and other pandemic-era favorites. Retailers turned to huge markdowns to get rid of the stuff, putting a dent in profit margins. The holiday returns boom is only going to make things worse. Americans are expected to return about 18% of the items they purchased over the holiday shopping season