Stat: Consumers are exploiting retailers’ flexible return policies

UK, US – A new report reveals the hidden cost of consumer-friendly return policies, with nearly half of online shoppers admitting to abusing them.  

Conducted by The Harris Poll for digital commerce platform Forter, the research questioned more than 4,000 adults in the US and UK. It found that 68% of respondents believe retailers make it too easy to exploit generous return systems, while 49% said they had done this in the past year. 

Among those, 29% admitted to misusing policies to avoid paying full price, while 30% confessed to ‘wardrobing’ – wearing expensive items they couldn’t otherwise afford before sending them back. This trend spikes among younger people, with 46% of US and 48% of UK 18–34-year-olds admitting to the practice. 

Financial pressures are fuelling more opportunistic shopping behaviours, with 48% buying more from retailers with lenient policies.  

Our New Codes of Value report dives into shifting attitudes towards brands, as inflationary prices and the enshittification of products and services have left many feeling disillusioned and entitled to bend or break the rules.