Your Return Policy Could Be Costing You Sales

For years, returns have been treated as something that happens after the sale. But customers often think about returns before they ever buy.

According to NRF's 2025 Retail Returns Landscape, 81% of shoppers check a retailer's return policy when shopping with them for the first time, and 77% say the return policy is an important consideration when shopping online.

That means your return policy is not just an operations decision. It is part of the sales experience.

And that creates a difficult balance for ecommerce brands. Customers want returns to be easy, flexible and convenient. Retailers need to protect margin, control costs and reduce unnecessary returns.

Simply making returns harder is not necessarily the answer. NRF found that among merchants charging for returns, 37% reported losing customers over return fees and 24% reported a decrease in sales.

At the same time, being overly generous can create a different problem: higher costs, more operational complexity and less margin.

So the real question is not: should returns be easy or strict?

The better question is: how do you make the right decision for each return?

Because not every return is the same. The customer is different. The product is different. The economics are different. And the best outcome may be different too.

That is where smarter decision-making becomes important.

The return experience also affects what happens after the sale. NRF found that 71% of shoppers say a poor returns experience makes them less likely to shop with that retailer again.

So returns influence more than the transaction in front of you. They can affect conversion before the sale, customer loyalty after the sale, and margin throughout the entire process.

That is exactly why we built Peg.

Peg is AI for ecommerce returns. It helps brands make smarter return decisions based on the customer, the product and the economics behind the return, while also helping manage what happens next.

The goal is not simply to process a return faster. It is to create the best possible outcome for both the customer and the business.

Because returns should not be an afterthought. They should be managed with the same level of intelligence as the rest of your ecommerce operation.

Protect margin. Keep customers. Get more from every return. Use Peg.

Source: National Retail Federation, 2025 Retail Returns Landscape. Study conducted in partnership with Happy Returns, a UPS company.