Hitting "Buy Now" is just the beginning. What percent of purchases end up back at the retailer?

Answer:

• Overall returns: 14.5% of retail sales
• Online returns: 17.6% of retail sales
• Brick-and-mortar returns: 10% of retail sales

Questions: 

• What items do you think are most likely to be returned? Least likely?
• Have you ever made a purchase that you planned to return?
• What are the potential costs and secondary impacts of returns?
• If you wanted to minimize your returns when shopping, what steps could you take?

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (NRF):

"Total returns for the retail industry amounted to $743 billion in merchandise in 2023"

"In 2022, retailers allowed 22.1% of returns to be accepted without a receipt. This number has dropped by half in 2023. Survey data also estimates that 17% of non-receipted returns are fraudulent, an increase from 14% in 2022. Non-receipted returns have been a significant focus for retailers because fraud and abuse rates are expected to be higher in this category"

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Returns are not really free as you will discover in this Planet Money podcast, No such thing as a free return. 

About the Author

Kathryn Dawson

Kathryn (she/her) is excited to join the NGPF team after 9 years of experience in education as a mentor, tutor, and special education teacher. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in policy analysis and management and has a master's degree in education from Brooklyn College. Kathryn is looking forward to bringing her passion for accessibility and educational justice into curriculum design at NGPF. During her free time, Kathryn loves embarking on cooking projects, walking around her Seattle neighborhood with her dog, or lounging in a hammock with a book.

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