A panic order ahead of the weekend and a return on Monday for the stuff we do not want - many of us are used to the convenience online shopping gives us. But online retailer Asos is the latest of many to introduce a returns fee from Tuesday for frequent returners, blaming the level of some people's returns as "unsustainable". Online shopping generates 4.
8 times more packaging waste than offline shopping , according to a one study, in addition is the emissions from transferring goods to people's homes. Medi Parry Williams, a retail marketing expert, said some stores have reported return rates of over 25% and that fees may get customers back in physical stores. The new return rules for Asos mean customers who return "regularly" will now have £3.
95 deducted from their refund if they keep less than £40 worth of items. Those with their premium subscription, which offers next day delivery and costs £9.95 a year, will need to keep £15 worth of an order.
They have not clarified what a "regular" returner means but said for the majority of customers, they will still be able to return for free. Pretty Little Thing faced backlash in June when they introduced a similar policy, while H&M did a U-turn on charging customers for online returns in store last year. Other stores have also adopted similar approaches.
Online shopping in the UK has grown year on year with a peak in 2020 and 2021 during the Covid pandemic, according to the Office for National Statistics . Online sales currently .
