You Have More Control Than You Know: How to Rethink Returns in 2025

There’s a classic business school mantra about the three Cs of building a brand: customers, competition, and company. But in 2025, a new set of three Cs is looming over the commerce industry: costs, change, and complexity.

Costs are rising across every part of operations. Change is constant, from new tech breakthroughs to fluctuating tariffs. And complexity is compounding as you juggle more marketplaces, touchpoints, and tools (while wrangling growing costs and constant change).

But there’s one last C that can actually help: control. While many external factors are out of your hands, there’s also more within your power than you might realize.

Take returns, for example. They’re often dismissed as a post-purchase problem—but they cost far more than just the refunded purchase. Return costs add up quickly, especially as return rates are driven by trends like “haul culture” and “bracketing” (where shoppers intentionally overbuy with plans to return).

Here’s where the control comes in. Consumers overbuying-with-intent-to-return trends? Out of your control. But the ability to lose less money on returns overall? That’s a systems challenge where you likely have more power than you expect. According to our recent survey of 6K+ global consumers, many of the factors influencing return rates are within your control.  

Three High-Impact Factors You Control

Our survey asked shoppers about the key decision drivers behind whether they click “buy” from a specific retailer or brand. Here are three of the top key factors, with a breakdown of how much control you really have in both enticing the purchase (and preventing the return).

Factor 1: Shipping Time (54% say it's a major influence)

Shipping speed can be a third-party issue—dependent on carriers and geography—but you still have meaningful control here.

• Set clear delivery expectations upfront: Customers are more forgiving of slower delivery when they know exactly what to expect. Real-time estimates and proactive updates reduce anxiety and build trust.
• Offer tiered options: Some shoppers want speed. Others prioritize shipping price or sustainability/eco-friendliness. Give them the choice, and you’ll be more likely to meet expectations more often. 
• Optimize fulfillment internally: Using localized inventory, predictive demand planning, and smarter shipping logic (such as splitting shipments only when necessary) often beats supposedly speedier competitors on reliability. 

The takeaway: Fast doesn’t always mean overnight. It often means predictable, visible, and flexible—and that’s within your operational design.

Factor 2. Product Reviews (51% say it's a major influence)

You can't control what customers say or the number of stars they leave in reviews. But you can influence what they experience and how you present social proof.

• Proactively collect reviews: Post-purchase emails, loyalty incentives, or SMS nudges can boost volume and recency of reviews. 
• Feature the right ones: Highlight verified purchases, recent experiences, and customer-uploaded photos to boost trust. 
• Showcase reviews by use case: Help customers find reviews from people “like them” based on sizing, demographics, or usage. This minimizes mismatched expectations, which in turn reduces reviews. 

The takeaway: You can't write the review, but you control the experience and how to surface the most relevant voices.

Factor 3. Returns Policy (41% say it's a major influence)

Return policy ranks just behind product reviews and shipping speed in its influence on purchase decisions. But unlike those, which are moldable but not fully in your control, returns are available for customization. 

Some immediate levers to pull:

• Shorten windows: Over half of consumers say 14 days is plenty.
• Add soft friction: 22% of consumers say they've skipped a return because it was "too much hassle." Soft, strategic friction can help curb returns without alienating customers, when implemented thoughtfully.
• Tailor by SKU: High-margin or high-return-rate items can have different rules. SKU-level profitability benchmarking can determine which products, channels, or customer segments can absorb free return costs—and where to draw the line
• Frame policy changes as sustainable: 92% of Gen Z recognize the harm caused by returns, and 85% of Gen Z also say their returns behavior is influenced by environmental concerns, compared to 74% of consumers aged 45 and up. Sustainability is a concern for all, but especially powerful for the demographic most likely to bracket.

The biggest return-reducer of all: Product Detail Page accuracy.

Sixty-one percent of fashion returns are due to poor fit, and 39% of shoppers say better product guidance would have prevented a return. This is huge: the quality of your product listings is fully within your power to improve. When consumers can’t try items on before purchasing, providing accurate product detail pages (PDPs) can dramatically reduce return rates. High-quality images, clear product descriptions, and detailed fit and sizing guides help consumers build confidence in what they’re buying. And the more certainty a shopper feels before clicking buy, the less likely they are to buy multiples with the intent to return, or to regret and return the purchase at all.

The takeaway: Strategic returns policies + PDP clarity = fewer returns and more confident purchases.

Control is Your Competitive Edge

You can’t magically manipulate the macroeconomy. It’s time to lean into what you can control and find new ways to think about factors outside your reach.  

All of these factors could be a strategic opportunity, especially returns. Want to see more of the data? Download the full 2025 Global Returns & Profit Impact Report for a detailed look.