There are those who buy a head of clothing, wear it and then return it “in a close tour”. Who is delivered many sizes and all the colors of the same model. Welcome to the world of serial buyers of products that are causing serious economic damage to online companies and platforms. Who run for cover in this way.
The “fashion bible”, Vogue, called it Wardrobing, which translated resembles “wardroban”, that is, the phenomenon of buying a dress online to wear it only once, perhaps for a particular event or simply for a pair of selfies to be posted on social media, hiding the card and then return it to have the money back. If you think it is crazy, try making a survey on Instagram and you will come across videos or photos of those who bring clothes to the last fashion showing an unlimited wardrobe.
What can I say about the videos that depopulate on Tiktok (#keedosureturn), In which self -styled influencers feel what they have purchased serially on the web and ask their audience to help them in the choice, whether to keep it or send it back, accumulating a mountain of return. The chronic undecided are also poured on the internet: to be understood, those who station hours in the dressing rooms by dismantling the shop and then not buying anything and who found their ideal habitat in the e-commerce. They are able to order all the colors in the catalog of the same dress or various sizes, and then, perhaps, send everything to the sender.
Of course there are consumers in good faith who order a couple of garments in search of the right size. Online shopping offers extreme comfort but without physical experience: you cannot touch, try, concretely evaluate a product despite the many tools offered by the platforms, the customized advice on the sizes, the possibility of viewing a product in 3D. Thus the purchase often becomes a “bet” linked to the price, especially on platforms such as Privalia, private sales or private deposits by Zalando, where the reductions are captivating.
Currently on Tiktok there are at least 8.3 million videos dedicated only to objects purchased on Amazon and 1.2 million dedicated to those purchased on Shein, the Chinese e-commerce platform specialized in Fast Fashion, the US-E-GETTA fashion.
The return, at first a sort of “Customer Caregiving”, A marketing strategy of large online portals have now turned into an exorbitant cost as well as in the greatest responsible for environmental pollution. In fact, many of the clothes, shoes or accessories as well as objects of all kinds, which are returned, does not return for sale (the costs to insert them again in the circuit are exorbitant between logistics, transport, possible sanitization and re -reimalge) but are eliminated, going to increase landfills all over the world.
According to an Optoor report, an “reverse” logistics company that collaborates with retailers and producers to manage the returned goods, Only in the United States, the return generates over 15 million tons of CO2 every year, while about 2.6 million tons of these products end up directly in the landfill. On a global level, it is estimated that over 30 percent of online orders is given back, with tips of 50 percent in the fashion sector, based on a statesman investigation. And this is not because the garment is defective or of a different size, but simply because it doesn’t like it. Or even worse, it is not necessary. Always the Vogue magazine has defined the tendency to serial purchase, such as “haul culture”, the culture of booty.
In Italy, in the first half of 2024, the average return rate was lower than in other countries, reaching 5.9 percent, but with strong differences between categories: Fashion and footwear even touch 25 percent, while electronics and furnishings are expected below 10 percent. In France, however, there is talk of 24 percent, in Germany of 44 percent and 45 percent in Switzerland. Of course, the phenomenon impacts the budgets of companies.
10 percent of the reused products require sanitizing and packaging with less than 55 percent of them sold at full price, due to the return times that end up clothes and objects on sale because it is now completely out of season.
What does the law say? In online sales, the terms “made” and “withdrawal” are often used as if they were synonymous, but on a legal level there is a difference. The withdrawal, protected by the consumer code, allows the customer to return a product within 14 days of delivery, without having to provide any justification. From the receipt of the returned goods, the seller is 14 days for the refund. In some cases, the right of withdrawal is not applicable as for the digital goods already downloaded, the personalized products, the perishable ones. The return costs are borne by the consumer unless the seller has offered them expressly free of charge.
In the return, however, it is the seller who establish the return times And this compulsive phenomenon has imposed on companies to rethink a model that has become unsustainable. The Inditex brands (including the Fast Fashion Zara champion), UNIQLO, H&M and ASOS have changed their rules, testing the paid return.
UNIQLO, in fact, applies a cost of 2.95 euros for the return of the order that must be made within 30 days, Zara pays 4.95 euros for home collection while, depositing the package at a delivery point, the figure is 2.95 euros.
For H&M, the return to the shop is free, while paying € 2.99 (except for the members of H&M members) in a retreat point and 4.95 euros if at home. Amazon generally allows 30 days to return the products sold and shipped directly from the platform. In some cases, the return are free but, by categories such as electronics and bulky products, specific conditions or partial deductions can be applied.
For suspicious behavior of systematic abuses, Amazon can even suspend accounts.
Zalando reduced the free return time from 100 to 30 days. To impose stringent constraints, however, is risky. According to Infobip experts, a global cloud communication platform, prohibiting repeated refunds can return against business. A too rigid policy risks damaging the brand’s reputation and pushing customers to competition. Companies are therefore focusing on detailed descriptions, realistic images, interactive sizes tables, in order to avoid errors in purchases. A spokesman for Shein explains their strategy to Panorama: “We offer customers all the tools to make conscious purchases, thanks to detailed information on materials and sizes available on the Shein app. For sizes we provide precise indications on the fit and measures of the garments, while customer reviews represent a precious source of suggestions and testimonies ». Then he underlines that their return rate “is less than the average of the sector”.
Stefano Zerbi, spokesperson for the coordination of Consumer Consumer Associations, indicates the critical issues to which companies and buyers are exposed. «The small e-commerce realities are faced with important costs, then having little possibilities to reim on the market the goods that is returned. But at the same time, those who buy are damaged, which in good faith acquires more products in the uncertainty of the size and which now has to face more stringent rules often difficult to observe, such as the presence of intact packaging ».
So welcome to the varied world of returns, between small cunning and traps of consumption.
