One in ten Christmas gifts have already been sent back

• One in ten gifts (11 percent) given at Christmas have already been returned, according to new data from e-commerce marketing platform, Omnisend.  
• The number of returns made in the immediate aftermath of Christmas has risen by nearly a fifth (18 percent) compared to the same seven-day period the year before.
• More than half of the returns made are clothes (53 percent), followed by sports equipment (9 percent), home and garden furnishings (7 percent), beauty products (6 percent) and health and fitness (6 percent).
• Meanwhile, the categories that see the fewest number of returns straight after Christmas are safety and survival gear (0.04 percent) and adult gifts (0.06 percent).
• E-commerce expert, Martyn Bauer, shares some insights about why retailers may be seeing an uplift in returns this year and how the Christmas shopping period may have fared for the industry.

As the Christmas decorations come down, new data suggests the festive shopping season is far from over for retailers. Fresh figures from the ecommerce marketing platform Omnisend reveal that one in ten Christmas gifts (11 percent) have already been returned, with return activity accelerating sharply in the days immediately after Christmas.

According to Omnisend’s analysis, the number of returns made in the first seven days after Christmas Day rose by 18 percent year-on-year, highlighting a growing post-festive returns surge as Brits try out their gifts and see if they fit and suit their needs.

The data shows that clothing dominates post-Christmas returns, accounting for more than half (53 percent) of all items sent back. Sports equipment (9 percent), home and garden furnishings (7 percent), beauty products (6 percent) and health and fitness items (6 percent) also feature high up in the list, reflecting a mix of unwanted gifts and items bought with good intentions that didn’t quite land.

On the other hand, some categories see almost no post-Christmas returns at all and go down much better with recipients. Safety and survival gear (0.04 percent) and adult goods (0.06 percent) recorded the lowest return rates, suggesting that gifts given in these categories tend to be more deliberate and better matched to expectations.

The findings point to a Christmas shopping period where consumers were still willing to spend, but also more selective and pragmatic once the festivities ended. With many shoppers still mindful of household budgets, returning unwanted items is increasingly seen as a way to rebalance finances in the new year. Brits are keen to declutter even before the tinsel has come down.

Marty Bauer, retail and ecommerce expert at Omnisend, comments: “While the January sales may still be in full swing, so are the January returns according to our latest data.

Clothing remains the biggest category for refunds and exchanges. Fit, cut, and comfort are incredibly subjective, and shoppers are far more willing to send items back if they don’t feel quite right. With household budgets still under pressure, many Brits are also quicker to return items they won’t use, either to recover cash or exchange for something more practical and to their own taste.

Sports equipment and accessories are also classic ‘well-meant but risky’ Christmas gifts. They’re often tied to very specific sports, sizes or ability levels, and if just one of those elements is wrong, the product quickly becomes redundant. Even though January tends to be an active time of the year, that doesn’t always mean gifts to get in shape land well.

While returns are undeniably challenging for retailers from a logistics and cost perspective, they also represent an important moment in the customer journey. Brands that make returns simple, transparent and fast, and encourage exchanges rather than refunds, can turn the busiest returns period of the year into a powerful opportunity to build trust and long-term loyalty.

Retailers have been offering gift receipts for many years now, but we can see that extended returns periods and simplified ways of making a return, rather than having to go in-store, have proven popular with customers.”

Image courtesy of Unsplash. Photo credit: Clark Street Mercantile.