What Retailers at the E-Commerce Berlin Expo Said About Returns — Findings From an On-Site Survey

A small survey, a consistent picture

During the E-Commerce Berlin Expo we took the opportunity to talk to retailers directly at the booth, running a short qualitative on-site survey on returns. The sample is small and not representative — but the patterns in the answers were strikingly consistent.

Five findings stood out.

The five key observations

• Nearly half of the surveyed companies reported return rates above 40 %. Some answers mentioned rates up to 60 %.
• More than half fully outsource their return operations.
• The biggest concern is not processing returns faster, but reducing them in the first place.
• Most companies still manage returns reactively — not proactively.
• All respondents found predicting returns before shipping interesting — but did not know how to actually do it.

Taken together, the answers point in one direction: returns are not a marginal issue in e-commerce. They are a structural cost factor.

Returns are no longer a side topic

Return rates above 40 % are in line with what has been observed for years in German online retail — especially in fashion. Apparel regularly reaches return rates that would be considered existential in other categories.

That shifts the economic role of returns: reverse logistics, transportation, inspection, refurbishment and re-stocking are no longer secondary costs. They add up per order to a share that meaningfully changes the margin profile of entire assortments.

Outsourcing creates efficiency — and invisibility

Many retailers respond to this complexity by outsourcing returns to logistics and fulfilment partners. Operationally that often makes sense. Economically it has a side effect: the true cost of a return becomes hidden inside the contract.

• Shipping, handling and processing are typically embedded in logistics flat fees.
• The condition of returned items is rarely directly visible to the brand itself.
• Return reasons, when captured at all, are recorded by the provider — and seldom at a depth that makes product- or customer-side causes visible.

The result: companies know that returns are expensive, but not exactly where the money is being lost.

The real lever sits before shipping

The most consistent finding was simple: most respondents do not want to process returns faster — they want fewer returns.

Yet in practice the approach remains reactive almost everywhere: analysis after the return, not steering before the order. intelligent approaches are perceived as interesting but not yet operationally tangible. This is exactly where the shift from classic returns management to data-driven, intelligent control begins: risk is identified before a parcel leaves the warehouse.

That moves the question from "What do we do with this return?" to "Should this order have gone out in this configuration in the first place?".

What we can take from this

Three careful conclusions from this small sample:

1. Returns have moved up the agenda as an economic topic. The focus is shifting from logistics to prevention.
2. Outsourcing addresses the symptom, not the cause. Understanding the true cost of returns requires visibility into order, behavioural and product data — not only logistics KPIs.
3. The next step is intelligent. Reactive processes are increasingly complemented by decision-support models that act at checkout or before shipment.

"Reducing returns does not mean restricting customers. It means making the decision at the point where it still changes the economics: before goods leave — not after they come back."