We’ve officially flipped from buying season to returning season. The National Retail Federation expects 2024 to be one of the biggest years ever for merchandise returns, totaling $890 billion.

Returns are inevitably a significant part of online shopping, said David Sobie, CEO of logistics company Happy Returns. 

“And the way that shoppers accommodate for the limitations of shopping online is that they often buy multiple sizes or multiple colors, a practice known as bracketing,” he said.

Bracketing is especially popular with Gen Z. More than half do it. Sobie said it’s why returns will likely keep increasing. So retailers are doing what they can to give shoppers a more accurate understanding of goods before they buy. 

“Improving their product descriptions, using customer ratings, perhaps someone says, ‘Hey I bought this item and it runs big,’” Sobie said.

On the post-purchase side, retailers are trying to put the cost of returns onto the consumer, said Tony Sciarrotta, executive director of the Reverse Logistics Association.

Retailers are now more likely to charge return shipping or restocking fees and are labeling more items as final sale.

“Everything used to be free to return. Now there are some limits,” Sciarrotta said.