Royal Mail has said Tuesday will be among the busiest days of the year for product returns as people send unwanted Christmas presents back to retailers.
Dubbing the first working day of the year 'Takeback Tuesday', Royal Mail predicted couriers would see a 52% increase on December’s daily average for parcels returns.
“Now that the festive shopping period has drawn to a close, January is the busiest time of the year for returns,” Royal Mail chief commercial officer Nick Landon said.
“As every retailer knows, an easy and convenient returns experience that’s in line with shoppers’ expectations, is vital for repeat business.”
Some 81% of shoppers surveyed in a Royal Mail-commissioned study agreed a good experience returning an item would encourage them to shop with the same retailer again, the courier said.
Almost half of those surveyed said free online returns would encourage them to shop at one retailer over another, meanwhile.
Royal Mail, which is owned by International Distributions Services PLC (LSE:IDS), said its own parcel pick-up service had collected over a million packages in a week for the first time in December, as shoppers looked for convenience when returning items.
“Returns are an important part of the online shopping experience,” the company added.