‘So horrible’: Fashion e-retailers complain about high parcel return rates after Singles’ Day sale
Irate customers have clapped back on social media, many posting photos of the sub-par products received versus what they ordered.
· CNA · JoinSINGAPORE: A week after the end of China’s largest online shopping bonanza, one issue is starting to rear its head: The rise of product returns, with some womenswear shopowners seeing return rates of up to 90 per cent.
Originally a 24-hour online shopping event on Nov 11, Singles’ Day or “shuang shi yi” - double eleven in Mandarin - has grown into an annual blockbuster period for retail. This year, discounts were dangled from Oct 14, three-and-a-half weeks before the date.
While product returns are not a new trend, the rate has been especially heightened this year, according to local news reports. Irate e-commerce retailers have also complained on social media, drawing further attention to the issue.
At the same time, consumers have clapped back, saying that they did so because the quality and fit of their purchases were not up to scratch.
“PLEASE STOP RETURNING YOUR GOODS”
There is no official count on the tally of returned products across the Singles’ Day shopping period. However, checks by CNA found numerous online posts complaining about this phenomenon.
Xiao Feng, a user on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, posted a photo on Oct 29 showing a massive pile of returned packages containing women’s clothing.
“Please stop returning your goods! This is the first wave of Singles’ Day returns and there were so many,” the user grumbled. “I sent out 20,000 packages and 10,000 were returned, among them were even parcels that were wrongly sent back.
“This is so horrible, who would even dare to sell women’s clothing?”
A post by another user Tian Tian on Nov 1 claimed that during the first wave of returns for Singles' Day, out of the 2,000 parcels sent out, 1,500 were returned.
Another seller, A, showcased the pile of clothes that had been returned on her Xiaohongshu account.
"Returns on the left, parcels that are supposed to be shipped out, and this is probably only 50 per cent of it," she wrote. "Fellow sellers, what are your return rates?"
Return rates are at their highest since entering the business, several e-commerce business owners selling women’s clothing told Chinese news outlet Yicai Global in a Nov 15 report.
Zhang Ke (pseudonym), a Taobao business owner told Yicai she understands the current return rate in the industry has reached 80 per cent, with some shops even seeing rates of up to 90 per cent.
She noted that return rates for her shop are currently at 70 per cent, compared to 20 per cent two years ago.
Another shop owner interviewed by Yicai, Wang Ting, said her return rate hovers at around 75 per cent. According to the data Wang provided, her shop saw a return rate of 81.77 per cent in October.
Return and refund policies are ubiquitous in global e-commerce. It’s the same picture in China. In fact, some major players like Pinduoduo and Taobao have taken it one step further to make it easier for shoppers to seek a refund - implementing a “refund only” policy that in some cases, allows the buyer to get their money back without returning the purchase.
Many e-retailers also offer a 7-day no-questions-asked return policy.
Besides easy returns, many consumers also take advantage of Taobao's Singles' Day discounts by adding orders from different shops to their carts to hit the minimum spending amount and enjoy discounted prices, then cancelling some orders to get a refund.
04:03 Min
Singles' Day in China has become synonymous with the world’s largest online shopping festival. But is it losing its buzz as China's economy slows? The annual Singles' Day sales are being closely watched as a barometer for Chinese consumer sentiment. But since 2022, precise numbers are no longer available, as retail giants Alibaba and JD.com stopped releasing Singles’ Day sales figures. Tan Yew Guan reports.
American brand Ralph Lauren reportedly suffered from a 95 per cent order cancellation rate during this year's Singles' Day, according to a report by state-run Beijing Business Today.
The report claimed that consumers would purchase additional Ralph Lauren products to get discounts offered if they hit a minimum spending amount, and once the discounts were applied to their purchases, the products would be returned.
According to the report, some used Ralph Lauren as a "tool" to hit the minimum purchase amount because of its straightforward refund policy and that the money is usually refunded "within seconds".
An online womenswear shop with more than 200,000 followers announced it was closing shop in October, citing a return rate of more than 70 per cent as one of the reasons. And it is not alone.
According to Yicai, several womenswear online stores have chosen to close this year. They include popular store HACO, which had 3.07 million fans on Taobao, and sunnydand, with 2.74 million fans.
IRATE CONSUMERS CLAP BACK
However, pleas from shopowners to stop returning products were instead met with thousands of irate consumers justifying their actions.
The post by Xiao Feng garnered more than 12,000 comments on Xiaohongshu, many of which were seemingly left by users who ordered womenswear but ended up receiving sub-par products.
Many posted photos contrasting the ill-fitting product they received, versus the product photo advertised in the stores.
One user posted photos of a loungewear set she had purchased, showing her wearing three-quarter cropped trousers versus the oversized fit shown in the product photo.
“If (you don’t want) returns, then give me the money, you wear it,” the user retorted. “The absurdity, the seller told me to wash it first and that it would become longer once it’s washed.”
Many irate buyers also pointed out that e-commerce shops tend to use generic photos of similar clothing rather than take and display photos of their actual products.
“We have to collect our parcels from the collection stations, and if the clothes don’t fit, we have to find a time to return them and buy them elsewhere. Online shopping is too difficult,” one user on Xiaohongshu remarked.
Another user agreed, saying: “It’s the fault of the sellers for not using actual photos of their products. If you don’t (like us returning), then state the name of your shop and let everyone see your actual products!”
One clothing supplier told Yicai he believes the high return rates are partly linked to the way e-commerce platforms promote products.
The supplier, who supplies clothing to Douyin live-streaming shops, said a price comparison system launched by the popular short video platform recommends cheaper products of the same style to users after they have placed an order.
“This would cause users to refund and buy cheaper products after seeing them, thus resulting in a low-price competition. Considering operating expenses and profits, sellers would choose to provide lower-cost products. Quality decline is almost inevitable,” he noted.
He gave an example of a Douyin live-streamer who ordered long-sleeved shirts last autumn at a cost price of 70 yuan (US$9.60) to 90 yuan. This year, the cost has dropped to 60 yuan.
“A cost difference of more than 10 yuan will bring obvious changes to product quality. The fabrics used in the products are cheaper, and the production quality would become worse.”
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