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Shopping online is convenient and easy. Afterall, who wants to go out when it's cold outside when you could be home sipping coffee while you shop for a new pair of jeans.
But online shopping doesn’t give you an opportunity to try on the clothing and if it doesn’t fit, it has to be sent back. Do you know what happens to your online shopping returns?
Online shopping is huge, especially during holidays and special sales days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Interestingly enough, reported The Guardian, In the UK alone, more than 20 percent of online non-food purchases are sent back. And when it comes to clothing returns, the figures are sky high — more than half of online clothing purchased are returned!
Perhaps return policies are too liberal or maybe people later regret their decision to purchase an item. Whatever the case, the statistics speak for themselves. Unfortunately, many of these returns end up in landfills.
The Problem With Returns
Many companies, reported BBC Earth, simply don't have the technology or manpower to deal with the returns. An item of clothing that didn't fit is different from an item that is damaged.
There are so many details to take care of including dealing with the packaging. It’s no wonder so many items end up in a landfill. This is a waste of perfectly usable items and harms the environment.
For some retailers, it's more profitable to sell returns to discounters that truck and fly the goods overseas instead of putting them in the trash. But this also comes with an environmental cost.
Finding a Solution
Many forward thinking companies, reported The Guardian, have brainstormed about how to minimize the issue of returns, the cost involved and of course, the waste. Advanced Clothing Solutions fixies and then reselling items from name brand companies.
Another startup called (Re)vive repairs returned items and then is resold by retail websites at full price. Allison Lee, the CEO of (Re)vive told The Guardian that the mission of the company is to give these returned items a second life, thereby minimizing waste and creating a win-win situation for everyone involved.
The retail industry continues to evolve every single day. While most likely, people won’t stop shopping online and returning items, it is up to companies to create solutions. These startups are using these challenges as an opportunity to create positive change logistically, economically, and environmentally, in the world.
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