Every return costs twice: once for shipping there and back, once for the time spent on inspection, refurbishment and putting the item back into stock. In German online retail, around 487 million items (bevh returns compendium) are sent back to retailers each year in roughly 280 million parcels (bevh returns compendium). For an individual shop this is not a side issue but a direct lever on the margin. The good news: a large share of returns is not down to chance but to avoidable causes on the product page. Anyone who describes realistically, uses honest imagery and helps with the size choice prevents part of the wrong buys before they ever become an order. This article shows the most effective levers a shop can use to lower its return rate without choking conversion, and explains why fewer returns and happier customers pursue the same goal.
Key takeaways
- Returns weigh on the margin twice: through shipping and processing costs and through tied-up goods that must first be made sellable again.
- The most common reason for returns is the wrong size, followed by defects and simply not liking the item. The most effective levers target exactly these points.
- Honest product copy that names fit, material and dimensions concretely prevents wrong buys before they happen.
- Real photos from several angles and short product videos show the goods as they really are and dampen false expectations.
- A size advisor and clear measurement tables lead to the right choice and lower the typically high return rate in fashion.
- Anyone who records return reasons systematically sees which lever helps most in their own range, instead of optimising blindly.
Why Returns Eat Into the Margin
A return is rarely settled with the mere return shipment. After the goods arrive, the item is inspected, cleaned or repackaged, put back into stock and booked back in the system. Only then is it theoretically sellable again. More than half of retailers put the cost per returned item at up to 10 euros (EHI Retail Institute), and a further 13.9 percent (EHI Retail Institute) even calculate up to 20 euros. These amounts arise regardless of whether the goods eventually go back on sale or not. With the thin margins in online retail, the return rate therefore often decides whether an order was profitable at all.
How high the rate turns out depends heavily on the range. Across all product groups the average return rate in German e-commerce is 17.4 percent (EHI Retail Institute). In fashion it is many times higher: nearly one in eight surveyed fashion providers, exactly 12.2 percent (EHI Retail Institute), gets more than half of all orders back, and around 24.5 percent (EHI Retail Institute) report rates between 36 and 50 percent. Fashion beats electronics by a factor of five here. A shop that carries such categories therefore has particularly much to gain by tackling the avoidable returns at the root.
Returns are a cost and an environmental issue at once
Know the Real Reasons for Returns
Before applying levers, it pays to look at the causes. In a Bitkom survey, around one in ten (Bitkom) online purchases is sent back, and for part of the customer base it is even up to 15 percent (Bitkom) of orders. By far the most common reason: the size does not fit. 67 percent (Bitkom) name this as a reason for returns. Defective or damaged goods follow with 56 percent (Bitkom) and simply not liking the item with 50 percent (Bitkom). It is also striking that around a third (Bitkom) of respondents order more than they intend to keep from the outset, for example to try clothing in several sizes.
- Wrong size or fit: the biggest lever, addressable through concrete measurements and a size advisor.
- Deviation from the expectation: colour, material or size look different than imagined; here real photos and videos help.
- Item not liked: partly taste, partly false expectation from an overly flattering presentation.
- Defective or wrongly delivered goods: a matter of quality assurance, packaging and clean order picking.
- Deliberate choice ordering: several variants for selection, dampened by better information up front.
Free returns alone do not solve the problem
Lever One: Product Copy That Describes Realistically
The cheapest way to avoid a return is a product description that raises no false expectations. Many returns arise because the text stays too vague: no concrete measurements, no note on the material, no indication of the fit. A good product text names exactly what the customer will check after unpacking. For clothing that is the cut, the material composition, care instructions and an honest note on whether the piece runs small, true to size or large. For furniture and technology it is exact dimensions, weight, scope of delivery and compatibility. The more concrete the text, the rarer the surprise after delivery.
Concrete does not mean complicated. The art lies in combining a sales argument with realism. A text may excite, but it must not promise more than the product delivers, because it is precisely this gap that leads to a return later. The same principles that apply to good website copy that sells apply here too: benefit before empty phrases, plain language, honest details. Anyone who writes product copy to this pattern sells no less, but to the right customers, who then also keep the product.
What belongs in a low-return product description
Lever Two: Real Photos and Videos Instead of Flattery
After size, deviation from the expectation is the second most common reason for returns. Images carry a large share of this: a single, heavily edited studio photo often shows an ideal version that has little to do with the delivered goods. Anyone who wants to cut returns shows the product as it really is, from several angles, in real situations of use and with a reference for the size. Detail shots of material and workmanship take away the uncertainty, and a short product video conveys proportions and feel better than any still image.
Several real angles
Front, back and detail views as well as photos in a real setting show proportions and material honestly and forestall the disappointment after unpacking.
Short product video
A video conveys movement, size and surface and dampens false expectations. How to use video on the website properly is a topic of its own.
Size reference in the image
A model with a size note or an everyday object as a scale makes abstract centimetres tangible and reduces wrong buys on size.
Images must be not only honest but also technically good: sharp, sufficiently large and quick to load. Images that are too heavy slow the load time and cost conversion, ones that are too small hide important details. How to bring both into balance is described in the article on optimising images on the website. This produces product images that load quickly and still show enough for the customer to be confident before buying.
Lever Three: the Size Advisor Against Wrong Buys
Because the wrong size, at 67 percent (Bitkom), is the most important reason for returns, the size advisor is the single most effective lever, especially for fashion, shoes and anything worn on the body. Even a well-maintained measurement table helps if it names not only garment sizes but concrete centimetre values for chest, waist, hips or inside leg. More effective still is an interactive advisor that derives a concrete recommendation from a few details such as height, weight and preferred fit. The customer then no longer chooses on a hunch but on the basis of their own measurements.
The size advisor works twice. It lowers the return rate because fewer wrong sizes are ordered, and it lifts conversion because uncertainty is a common reason for an abandoned purchase. Anyone sure about the size orders more readily and sends things back less often. This applies especially to the widespread choice ordering, where customers deliberately order several sizes: the more reliable the recommendation, the more likely it stays at one size instead of three in the basket. The size advisor thus addresses the same friction point as measures against cart abandonment in the online shop.
More Levers: Reviews, Advice and Clean Data
Alongside text, image and size there are further adjusting screws. Real customer reviews with notes such as runs small or the material feels high quality provide information that no manufacturer text replaces and help the next buyer make the right choice. It is important to collect reviews compliantly and genuinely, as described in the article on product reviews in the online shop. Reachable advice before the purchase, by chat, phone or a quick query, also prevents wrong buys. And finally data quality counts: wrongly labelled variants, mixed-up colours or outdated stock levels create avoidable returns and wrongly delivered goods.
- Show real, verified customer reviews with notes on fit and material
- Keep measurements and the size advisor current and consistent across all variants
- Offer easily reachable advice before the purchase, for example by chat or callback
- Maintain product data cleanly: correct colours, variants and stock levels
- Choose packaging so the goods arrive undamaged and complete
- Ask for the reason with every return and evaluate it regularly
Measure Returns and Find the Right Lever
Which lever helps most in your own shop is revealed only by measurement. It makes sense to ask for a reason with every return and to evaluate the rate per product, category and variant. This shows whether an item comes back because of size, defects or a false expectation, and thus which lever applies. A dress with a high size-return rate needs a better size advisor, a piece of furniture with many defect returns needs better packaging. This evaluation belongs in the same routine as the rest of the conversion optimisation of the shop, because cutting returns and lifting conversion are two sides of the same coin.
It also matters where the visitors come from: well-informed prospects who find the right product page through fitting content and search results buy more deliberately and send things back less often. A well-thought-out online shop SEO brings not just more, but the more fitting visitors. This increasingly applies to new channels too, such as website traffic from AI search, whose visitors often arrive with a clear intent to buy.
| Reason for return | Typical lever | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong size | Measurements and size advisor | Lowers the most common reason directly |
| Deviation from the expectation | Real photos and product video | Realistic expectation before the purchase |
| Item not liked | Honest copy and real reviews | Less flattering presentation |
| Defective or damaged | Quality assurance and packaging | Fewer defect returns |
| Deliberate choice ordering | Reliable information up front | Fewer variants per order |
| Wrongly delivered | Clean product and stock data | Fewer errors in order picking |
Returns cannot be brought to zero, and that is not the goal either: part of the returns belongs to online retail and is anchored in law. What is achievable, though, is a noticeably lower rate, by tackling the avoidable wrong buys at the root, with clear copy, real images, helpful size details and clean data. These are exactly the building blocks we implement together with you on the product page, measurably and with clear fixed prices for setup and support. This lowers the return rate while the margin and your customers' satisfaction rise at the same time.
The cheapest return is the one that never happens, because the customer knew exactly what would arrive before buying.