Shoppers face unexpected fees for returning Christmas gifts

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Shoppers returning unwanted Christmas gifts are facing an unexpected financial hit after a chain of supermarkets began charging for returned items.

Retailers including hiking gear seller Mountain Warehouse and health and beauty website owner The Hut Group have changed their return policies to include fees.

It comes amid a broader industry shift for stores to charge fees, after Zara and Boohoo brought in their own returns fees earlier this year. Next has also increased its fees on returns.

It decided to charge some of the proceeds after reviewing the broader market, said Brian Brake, chief executive of retailer Moss Bros.

The change means it now offers customers the option to continue with the free Royal Mail service or pay £2.99 for items to be received by courier. This fee does not apply if shoppers are converting to a different size.

“If people want something faster, there’s an added cost to that,” Mr. Brick said. “But it’s really about returns and understanding what our competition is doing and what our customers are asking.”

The Mountain Warehouse website says it has started charging a £2 fee for orders placed after October 29, which will be deducted from the total refund.

The Hut Group, which owns the Lookfantastic website, is no longer offering free returns and is instead charging £2.99 per order. “Like other retailers, MW has introduced a modest return fee for products returned to our warehouse to reflect the increased cost of collecting and processing these returns,” said Mark Neal, founder of Mountain Warehouse.

The Hut Group declined to comment.

Industry experts predicted earlier this year that a wave of companies would begin charging. “It started before the pandemic and it will continue, as online shopping continues to grow,” said Nick Carroll, associate director of retail research at Mintel.

Apparel companies are strong advocates of this policy because of the increased returns after the growth of online sales.

KPMG estimates that by 2020, up to half of clothing purchased online at some retailers will be returned. The consultancy said this costs companies around £7 billion each year. Stores are expected to face more pressure on returns this year due to shipping delays following the Royal Mail strikes.

However, Mr. Brick said this change did not affect Moss Bros. Instead, returns began to decline.

He said, “I think most people over the last few years have seen increases in returns, although in reality we’re seeing decreases at the moment. We’ve seen that when customers come into stores, the returns are lower and the exchanges are much higher.”

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