{"id":27176,"date":"2024-03-20T14:45:20","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T14:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/?post_type=article&p=27176"},"modified":"2024-03-21T08:33:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T08:33:07","slug":"will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/","title":{"rendered":"Will free online returns soon become history in the Netherlands?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Free returns\u2019 is a common term these days. But that\u2019s expected to change. During the pandemic, many e-retailers prioritized revenue growth over profitability. But now that online shoppers are once again more selective, e-retailers pay more attention to turnover and cost optimization.\u00a0When it comes to small purchase amounts, free shipping has largely disappeared<\/a>. The\u00a0big question in e-commerce<\/a>\u00a0is when free returns will become history, too.<\/p>\n

The price tag of free returns<\/strong><\/p>\n

Return costs impact e-retailers\u2019 profitability, and people return lots of items.\u00a0In 2020, people in the Netherlands returned nearly 23 million packages<\/a>, which equals 7 percent of all online orders. And when it comes to online clothing, shoes, and fashion accessories purchases, 30 to 40 percent are returned.<\/p>\n

The returns process \u2014 collecting, packaging, shipping, returning, inspecting, preparing, stocking, processing, and partially deducting returned items \u2014 boils down to\u00a0an average cost of 12.50 euros per returned item<\/a>\u00a0(analysis from 2023). That\u2019s an amount e-retailers have to deduct directly from their profit margins.<\/p>\n

Besides the price tag that comes with free returns, the concept is anything but sustainable. And sustainability is increasingly important to both e-retailers and consumers.<\/p>\n

So, decreasing returns has been high on e-retailers\u2019 priority lists for years. For example, they create transparent product descriptions, post clear pictures and videos, use online \u2018fitt tooling,\u2019 and limit post-pay options. Nevertheless, in 2023,\u00a0Wehkamp\u2019s CEO Graham Harris said<\/a>\u00a0the number of customer returns was sometimes shocking \u2014 an approximate 70 percent of ladies\u2019 dresses were returned to the warehouse. To put this into a broader context, 28 employees worked on the shipment of 11 million packages per year, while 150 employees processed 50,000 returned items every day. Harris said changing consumer behavior only helped a bit, so the company had no choice but to charge return costs (which it had recently started to do).<\/p>\n

According to the Distance Selling Law, consumers have the right to return products within 14 days of receipt without stating a reason, and retailers can only charge the return costs \u2014 they are responsible for all other expenses that stem from returns.<\/p>\n

First movers: a cautious first step toward paid returns<\/strong><\/p>\n

The chart below shows the standard rates per return for the top 25 Dutch online retailers, compared to their standard shipping rates. Although a massive abandonment of free returns is not yet visible, the first movers stand out.<\/p>\n

Figure 1: Standard rates per return for top 25 Dutch online retailers<\/em>\"\"<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a clear difference between the return costs charged by online-only retailers and e-retailers with physical stores. The latter have return policies that vary from free returns (especially those retailers with strong online competitors) to relatively high return costs (which encourage in-store returns). However, all online-only retailers except Alternate offered free returns until March 2023. There seems to be no connection between return costs and standard shipping costs.<\/p>\n

In 2022, H&M and Zara took a cautious first step toward paid returns. In March 2023, Wehkamp was the first online-only e-retailer to do so. It\u2019s not surprising that fashion e-retailers with high return percentages are \u2018pioneers\u2019 in this regard. Given the relatively low return costs (that don\u2019t even completely cover shipping costs), it seems like their main goal is to experiment, increase awareness, and encourage a sense of responsibility among consumers. Moreover, first movers will likely ensure they won\u2019t give a competitive edge to e-retailers that don\u2019t (yet) charge return costs.<\/p>\n

When will the \u2019free online returns era\u2019 be over?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s quite remarkable that shipping rates have been normalized while return costs are still the odd man out \u2014 especially because customers consider shipping rates more often\u00a0<\/em>when making purchasing decisions. On top of that,\u00a0Simon-Kucher\u2019s Mark Helder says<\/a>\u00a0increasing shipping and return costs is easier than raising product prices, as consumers are more likely to accept that. The effect is the same: e-retailers can retain margins.<\/p>\n

In fact,\u00a0research conducted by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management shows<\/a>\u00a0that consumers are willing to pay 3.50 euros to return a 15-euro order \u2014 and they\u2019ll even pay 5.20 euros for a 150-euro order (numbers from 2023).<\/p>\n

As we live in uncertain times and e-retailers\u2019 focus has shifted from growth to efficiency, others will likely follow in the first movers\u2019 footsteps. E-retailers keep a close eye on each other, and there\u2019s increasing room for charging return costs. The latter will probably be raised gradually until they reach the maximum amount accepted by consumers and permitted by law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27180,"template":"","categories":[],"region":[256],"class_list":["post-27176","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWill free online returns soon become history in the Netherlands? - Argon & Co<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u2018Free returns\u2019 is a common term these days. During the pandemic, many e-retailers prioritized revenue growth over profitability. But now that online shoppers are more selective, e-retailers pay more attention to turnover and cost optimization.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will free online returns soon become history in the Netherlands? - Argon & Co\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018Free returns\u2019 is a common term these days. During the pandemic, many e-retailers prioritized revenue growth over profitability. But now that online shoppers are more selective, e-retailers pay more attention to turnover and cost optimization.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Argon & Co\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-21T08:33:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/shutterstock_684342199-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1709\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\\\/\",\"name\":\"Will free online returns soon become history in the Netherlands? - Argon & Co\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/shutterstock_684342199-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-20T14:45:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-21T08:33:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"\u2018Free returns\u2019 is a common term these days. During the pandemic, many e-retailers prioritized revenue growth over profitability. But now that online shoppers are more selective, e-retailers pay more attention to turnover and cost optimization.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/shutterstock_684342199-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/shutterstock_684342199-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1709},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Will free online returns soon become history in the Netherlands?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Argon & Co\",\"description\":\"We help clients achieve their strategic and operational objectives, working together to transform their businesses and generate real change.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Will free online returns soon become history in the Netherlands? - Argon & Co","description":"\u2018Free returns\u2019 is a common term these days. During the pandemic, many e-retailers prioritized revenue growth over profitability. But now that online shoppers are more selective, e-retailers pay more attention to turnover and cost optimization.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Will free online returns soon become history in the Netherlands? - Argon & Co","og_description":"\u2018Free returns\u2019 is a common term these days. During the pandemic, many e-retailers prioritized revenue growth over profitability. But now that online shoppers are more selective, e-retailers pay more attention to turnover and cost optimization.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/","og_site_name":"Argon & Co","article_modified_time":"2024-03-21T08:33:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1709,"url":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/shutterstock_684342199-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/","url":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/","name":"Will free online returns soon become history in the Netherlands? - Argon & Co","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/shutterstock_684342199-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2024-03-20T14:45:20+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-21T08:33:07+00:00","description":"\u2018Free returns\u2019 is a common term these days. During the pandemic, many e-retailers prioritized revenue growth over profitability. But now that online shoppers are more selective, e-retailers pay more attention to turnover and cost optimization.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/shutterstock_684342199-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/shutterstock_684342199-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1709},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/will-free-online-returns-soon-become-history-in-the-netherlands\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Will free online returns soon become history in the Netherlands?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/","name":"Argon & Co","description":"We help clients achieve their strategic and operational objectives, working together to transform their businesses and generate real change.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/27176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/27176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27176"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=27176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}