Many happy returns: sustainable startups are turning a profit from your unwanted clothes
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Now that half of our clothing purchases are sent back, reverse logistics – or the returns industry – has become big business, with companies finding ways to reduce waste. For many, the Boxing Day sales are a festive tradition, but last week major retailers from Next to John Lewis announced that their stores would stay closed as they expected customers to do their bargain hunting online.
![[Alice Fisher]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2023/09/18/Alice_Fisher_NEW.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
For those who regret their internet purchases – or those who unwrapped yet another hideous Christmas jumper – the prospect of a trip to the post office to send their returns awaits. Online shopping returns is big business: they are forecast to exceed £27bn in the UK alone this year, according to international logistics company ZigZag Global. More than a fifth of all online non-food purchases are now returned, and more than half of clothing purchases are sent back.
![[A woman’s hand with a nail-polished thumbnail holds out a plastic bag labelled “Returns”]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/adbb789c078c618878ba6afcd1a29f4ea81f1e42/2002_164_3901_3902/master/3901.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Customers complain about the hassle, and many retailers now charge them to do it after some reported the sheer volume of items being returned had dented their profit margins. Once the items arrive, some of them are simply binned. But now the returns industry – also called reverse logistics – is finally finding ways to reduce waste and even turn a profit.
![[Four shelves of folded-up clothes and packages, all sealed in plastic, in front of the sign “Returns area” in the ACS warehouse]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/21ae2edbb1efeeb5858d5e71d31b14401c6f568a/0_164_6720_4032/master/6720.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Some companies are trying so-called returnless refunds, in which customers can just hang on to their unwanted goods, while logistics companies which offer innovative solutions are looking for ways to make a profit by improving the process. Companies which originally focused on repair and clothing rentals are finding new profits in preparing returns for resale. This coincides with a growing consumer appetite for secondhand and resale clothing.
