After the sales come the returns, and fashion tops list of most likely items

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Jan 26, 2023

Returns season is upon us, and it’s going to be a particularly busy period, especially for the fashion and beauty sectors, a survey suggests.

Gifts worth £232 million will be returned across the UK, a Post Office poll of 2,000 people shows, with almost a third of consumers planning to return, re-gift, sell or donate Christmas presents. And top of the list at 21% are clothing and footwear, followed by non-electrical beauty items (18%).

More than 40% of returns are sent back to small or independent businesses putting an extra strain on those businesses’ workforce and costs.

Young adults aged 18-34 are the most likely to return gifts, dropping to 10% for over-55s. Meanwhile, the average value per gift being returned is £74, with those returning typically giving up two gifts.

Reasons for gift returns shows 20% are being made to help manage cost-of-living pressures, with 28% saying the gifts they received were “wasteful”. Some 32% said they did not need a gift they were returning and 40% said it would never be used – with those over 55 most likely to return their gifts for these reasons.

Kristian Latham, head of letters and parcels at the Post Office, said: “We continue to see big increases in return volumes following the Christmas period, as customers trust us to return their unwanted gifts safely – particularly important as our research shows many are returning and selling unwanted presents for much-needed cash.”