What’s in the box is costing you

How forward-thinking FMCG brands are replacing printed waste with real-time insight and finding ROI in the last place they expected.

Imagine the moment a product arrives at your customer’s door. It’s beautifully packaged, on time, exactly as expected. But tucked inside the box, automatically, by default, is a return label they may never use.

This is the kind of frictionless gesture that feels helpful… until you realize it’s quietly costing your business thousands.

In the fast-moving world of FMCG and retail, returns have become the industry’s silent expense. For years, inserting a prepaid “label in the box” was seen as a mark of customer-centric thinking, an insurance policy for the indecisive shopper. But as digital maturity spreads across Europe and the Nordics, the most forward-looking brands are quietly asking: What if that “insurance” is actually an unnecessary premium?

What we’re seeing now is not just a tech shift, but a reframing of what good customer service really looks like. By replacing print-and-forget return labels with zero-touch, digital-first returns, brands are discovering they can eliminate waste, capture better data, and nudge consumers toward better outcomes, all while reducing operational drag.

This shift isn’t about technology for its own sake. It’s about using psychological design to guide behaviour more intelligently. When a return process becomes intentional, rather than automatic, it stops being a cost centre and starts becoming a source of insight, loyalty, and even revenue.

But if putting a label in every box is so easy, why are so many brands starting to question it?

The generous mistake. What pre-printed labels are really costing you

It sounds harmless enough: include a prepaid return label with every package. Give the customer one less reason to hesitate. It feels like the kind of no-brainer that makes businesses more customer friendly.

But behavioral economics teaches us something counterintuitive: just because something is easy for the customer, doesn’t mean it’s smart for the business. And in this case, ease becomes expense.

1. Money spent, value never realized

For CFOs, the problem is hiding in plain sight. Every time a return label is printed “just in case,” you’re spending on an action that, more often than not, won’t happen. In fact, in certain categories, around 80% of those labels are never used.

That’s not efficiency. That’s paying for insurance policies your customers didn’t ask for and don’t redeem. Imagine a marketing campaign where 80% of the budget never reaches anyone. You’d kill it instantly. So why is this different?

If returns are only initiated by a fraction of customers, why subsidize them for everyone, silently and upfront?

2. The psychology of waste

From a sustainability angle, “label in the box” creates invisible environmental debt. Every unused slip is a piece of paper, ink, and logistics carbon that led nowhere. In a sector under pressure to prove ESG credibility, this kind of quiet waste is reputationally expensive.

Not only does it conflict with brand values, but it also creates cognitive dissonance. How do you claim to be green while throwing away thousands of labels a day?

And the irony? Consumers don’t even notice them until they need them. Which means the perceived value of these labels is low, yet the actual cost (both financial and environmental) is high.

Could this be one of those rare cases where doing less makes your brand feel more responsible?

3. A missed moment of influence

There’s another cost here, less obvious, but arguably more damaging over time: lost opportunities to intervene.

When a customer uses a return label from the box, the return becomes silent. No digital touchpoint. No feedback loop. No chance to offer an exchange or help them find a better fit. The parcel simply disappears back into your supply chain, and so does the relationship.

Behaviorally speaking, you’ve handed over the steering wheel when you could have gently nudged the customer toward a more valuable outcome. That’s a missed sale, a missed insight, and a missed chance to improve retention.

What might happen if you redesigned returns to spark a conversation, instead of ending one?

4. No data, no control

From an operations perspective, label-in-box returns function like a black box. Items come back unannounced, often with no insight into why. The warehouse doesn’t know what’s coming until it arrives. Inventory planning becomes reactive. Labour allocation gets harder to forecast. It’s chaos, hidden behind a façade of convenience.

Contrast that with a digital return flow, where data arrives before the product does. Suddenly, returns become manageable, forecastable, and even optimizable.

The question becomes: Is your returns process designed for predictability, or just passively accepting uncertainty?

By removing a tiny piece of paper, forward-thinking retailers aren’t creating friction. They’re creating focus. Focus on what the customer actually needs and what the business actually gains in return.

So, what if the return label isn’t just a piece of paper, but a decision, made too soon, at the wrong time, by the wrong party?

Friction that builds trust. How doing less creates more control

When we talk about “digital transformation,” imagination tends to jump to apps, dashboards, or automation. But sometimes, the real transformation is psychological.

Take zero-touch returns. The concept seems simple: no label in the box, no paperwork, and nothing printed until the customer actually decides to send something back. Labels are generated on demand, often via QR code or digital portal. What once came pre-printed now appears only when necessary.

But this isn’t just a question of efficiency. It’s a shift in how and when a decision is made, and by whom.

1. Return labels when they’re needed, not before

Zero-touch starts by asking a subtle question: Why are we deciding today what might happen tomorrow? Inserting a label in every box assumes a future action. Generating one on demand waits for that action to actually occur.

This small change reverses the psychology of the process. When customers use a digital portal, they become more conscious participants in the return journey. That’s valuable because conscious users leave data, consider alternatives, and are more open to suggestions.

A QR code or digital return isn’t just convenient. It’s context aware. And context changes behavior.

So, if most people don’t want to return… why treat them as if they will?

2. A system that teaches Itself

Returns portals don’t just process, they listen. Every return becomes a small story: why it happened, what the customer wanted instead, and how the experience could have been better. These signals feed product teams, logistics planners, and marketers.

Over time, the business learns. But more importantly, so does the customer. They’re guided, not pushed, toward better outcomes, like exchanges or store credit. That’s influence, not enforcement.

And the best part? It feels like self-service.

Could the most persuasive systems be the ones that make customers feel in control, while gently shaping better choices?

3. Visibility reduces anxiety and cost

From the customer’s perspective, one of the most stressful parts of returning a product is uncertainty. Has the parcel arrived? When will I get my money back? Did it get lost?

Zero-touch returns, integrated with carrier tracking, make this experience transparent. Updates are automatic. Statuses are clear. And trust is quietly reinforced. Psychologically, it’s not just about the product; it’s about emotional reassurance.

From the retailer’s side, that same visibility removes operational guesswork. Returns arrive announced, with reasons, items, and even conditions, sometimes pre-logged. Warehouses can plan. Customer service teams get fewer “Where’s my refund?” calls.

What’s more expensive: a refund... or the ten minutes your team spends answering emails about it?

4. The real power of cross-channel choice

“Zero-touch” doesn’t mean “impersonal.” Quite the opposite. A customer who bought online can now return to the store, with nothing but a phone and a code. No awkward form-filling. No printing at home. No friction.

This is behavioral design at its best: removing steps, not agency. For the customer, it’s seamless. For the retailer, it’s strategic because foot traffic means potential exchanges, upsells, and human moments.

And in an age where most brands fight for attention, how often do you get a second in-person interaction with someone who already knows your product?

At its core, zero-touch isn’t digital vs paper. It’s about designing returns that behave more like the customer. Flexible, responsive, and quietly helpful.

If returns could talk, what would they say about the brand behind them?

When a label disappeared, loyalty improved: The Hunkemöller effect

When you think about digital transformation, lingerie might not be the first category that comes to mind. But for Hunkemöller, one of Europe’s most recognizable lingerie and lifestyle brands, returns were an invisible source of friction; operationally, emotionally, and environmentally.

They weren’t alone. Like many omnichannel retailers, they followed what once felt like best practice: include a printed return label in every online order. It’s neat, predictable, and feels customer friendly. But the hidden cost? Silence.

Returns happened without warning. Boxes arrived at the warehouse, unannounced and unexplained. The team didn’t know why, when, or what was coming. Each parcel required a little detective work, plus time-consuming stock updates. And most of those pre-printed labels? Never used.

For a brand that depends on high volumes, fast cycles, and loyal customers, this kind of operational vagueness becomes expensive quickly.

So, what happened when Hunkemöller took that paper label out of the box?

Redesigning returns as a customer journey

The shift wasn’t just technical. Hunkemöller reframed the returns experience as part of the customer journey, not an afterthought, but a touchpoint with value. They partnered with nShift and the Returns product to roll out a digital-first, on-demand returns process.

Now, when a customer wants to return an item, they enter a guided online flow. They choose how, when, and where. Be it in-store, via parcel drop-off, or with a printable label. It’s fast, clear, and crucially, it creates a moment of engagement.

This portal doesn’t just collect the return. It collects insight. Why was the item returned? Would they prefer a different size? Would they accept store credit?

That single moment, previously silent, is now a behavioral inflection point.

Could a return be the beginning of a second sale, not just the end of the first?

The results: less paper, more precision

The changes weren’t superficial. Since going live with zero-touch returns, Hunkemöller saw:

• 15% increase in in-store returns, rather than mail-ins. This isn’t just logistics, it’s strategy. In-store returns create opportunities: face-to-face interaction, real-time feedback, and spontaneous purchases. They turn a loss into a live conversation.
  
• Operational visibility: Warehouse staff can now see incoming returns before they arrive. That’s not just useful, it’s transformative. It shifts operations from reactive to planned. Processing is faster. Inventory updates are instant. And stock gets back online quicker.
  
• Customer satisfaction improved, with fewer service calls and more confidence in the returns process. Not surprisingly, this convenience, combined with transparency, has a reinforcing effect: customers trust more, buy more, and churn less.
  

Is it possible that making returns less visible internally made them more invisible to the customer, in the best way?

The sustainability bonus

Then there’s the part you don’t see: the label that was never printed. Thousands of them.

For Hunkemöller, reducing printed labels and return slips wasn’t just cost saving, it aligned directly with the brand’s sustainability commitments. Fewer materials. Less transport. A smaller footprint.

This was an emotional win, too. The brand could now say, credibly, that it had made a small but meaningful design choice in favor of the environment, without sacrificing customer experience.

Could one missing slip of paper say more about your brand than all the words on your website?

In hindsight, the real return wasn’t just in cost savings. It was in better timing, better data, and better dialogue. A process that used to be opaque, passive, and reactive became something transparent, designed, and intentional.

So, the question is: If you were redesigning your return experience from scratch today, would you ever think to start with a printer?

The economics of letting go. Where ROI hides in returns

There’s a difference between saving money and spending smart.

Too often, returns management is treated like plumbing, important, yes, but invisible and unglamorous. As long as it works, leave it alone. But in reality, returns are one of the few post-sale moments where operational efficiency, customer psychology, and brand perception converge.

The smart money isn’t in making returns cheaper. It’s in designing them better, because that’s where the ROI is hiding.

1. Cost savings that compound quietly

Printing and inserting a return label for every customer is a classic example of a cost disguised as convenience. It's logical, but not behavioral.

In categories where return rates average around 20%, that means 80% of those labels, and their postage, are instantly wasted. It’s not just paper. Its money being quietly shredded in your fulfilment center.

With a digital, on-demand model, the cost of the label only occurs when the customer requests it. You pay when value is created, not before.

Even more powerful? Staff in warehouses now spend far less time processing each return. Returns come pre-logged, not pre-mystified. That’s time saved, inventory updated faster, and fewer markdown losses.

When was the last time your operations team got ROI from something not designed to be a cost-saving measure?

2. Revenue that would have been lost

The traditional view of returns sees them as a refund. A reversal. A failure, even.

But what if the right digital touchpoint could convert that return into a second chance?

Retailers using the nShift Returns product report that ~30% of returns become exchanges. That’s not a statistic. That’s revenue recovered from the jaws of churn. When you guide the customer toward a different size, color, or product, or even store credit, you shift the narrative from disappointment to satisfaction.

Even more compelling: the return itself becomes a high-engagement moment. Emails confirming status updates are opened more than typical marketing communications. That’s prime attention real estate when trust is high, and the customer is actively listening.

Why spend a fortune acquiring new customers, only to ignore the one moment when they’re most emotionally invested?

3. Loyalty that feels like confidence

Customer retention isn’t built on clever slogans or holiday discounts. It’s built on how you behave when things don’t go to plan.

Over half of online shoppers say that an easy returns process is very important to them, even more so than price. And 67% say a retailer’s return policy affects their level of trust.

Trust, in this context, isn’t abstract. It’s the confidence to buy again.

A well-designed digital return experience isn’t about generosity; it’s about removing anxiety before it starts. Customers know they won’t get stuck. That knowledge turns hesitation into conversion, and first-time buyers into regulars.

If your returns policy is silent, rigid, or invisible, what does that say about how you'll behave when things go wrong?

4. Sustainability that’s measurable and marketable

In many boardrooms, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) feels like a separate track. But with zero-touch returns, efficiency and sustainability walk hand in hand.

Less paper. Fewer trucks. Reduced packaging. Digital returns reduce the environmental cost of e-commerce and signal that your brand is thinking beyond quarterly targets.

Considering that e-commerce returns create up to 24 million metric tons of CO₂ annually, every bit you cut sends a message: this is a company that takes waste seriously.

For customers who factor sustainability into buying decisions (now a majority across EU markets), that message can be a tiebreaker.

Is it possible that the most profitable decisions are also the most ethical, when seen through the right lens?

5. The cost of doing nothing

There’s a final ROI dimension we often overlook: the price of inertia.

Processing a return can cost a retailer up to 66% of the product’s original price. That’s before you consider lost sales, manual labor, and customer churn.

And if you’re still using label-in-the-box methods? You're not just absorbing those costs - you’re missing the upside:

• No chance to convert returns to exchanges.
  
• No data to improve product design.
  
• No early signals for inventory forecasting.
  
• No way to re-engage a customer mid-exit.
  
  

It’s the classic behavioral blind spot: we notice the cost of change more than the cost of staying still. But make no mistake, returns will cost you either way. The question is: do they cost you quietly... or work for you strategically?

So, if the goal isn’t to spend less, but to spend better, what’s the return you’re actually leaving on the table?

Returns will cost you either way. Only one path pays you back

When you look at returns purely through the lens of logistics, the goal is obvious: get the item back, update the stock, issue the refund.

But when you zoom out, something far more interesting emerges.

Returns are not just a function. They are a moment of truth. A real-world test of how a customer feels about your brand, how your systems respond to uncertainty, and how much trust exists in the relationship.

Digital, zero-touch returns aren’t just cheaper or faster. They’re better timed, better designed, and better aligned with how people actually behave. They replace wasteful defaults with intentional action. They turn passive moments into active engagement. And they allow brands to learn, adjust, and even earn from what used to be a cost.

In the case of Hunkemöller, this wasn’t theory. It was practice—with real results: faster operations, fewer questions, better sustainability metrics, and yes, even higher sales.

The irony? The change began with one small question: What if we stopped putting labels in every box?

The lesson is subtle, but powerful: profit doesn’t always come from doing more, but from knowing what to stop doing.

So, for any FMCG or retail leader sitting in a strategy meeting asking how to reduce costs, increase trust, or hit ESG targets faster… it might be worth looking at that one part of the customer journey where the most money is quietly leaking out.

Because either way, you're going to pay for your returns.

The real question is: Will they cost you, or will they pay you back?

Sources:

1. Rebecca Lazar, “Pros & Cons of Providing a Return Label in the Box,” ReturnGO Blog 
2. DeliveryX Returns 2024 Report (nShift & DeliveryX study) – as summarized in nShift press release nshift.com
   
3. nShift Customer Story – Hunkemöller (IMRG Consumer Home Delivery Report 2023/24) imrg.org
4. nShift Customer Story – Hunkemöller (Robin Visser quote) nshift.com
5. nShift Customer Story – Friluftsmagasinet (Norway) nshift.com
6. nShift Press Release, 2023: “Retailers convert 30% of returns to exchanges by going digital” nshift.com
7. Pack-Lab (CleanHub report analysis), “E-Commerce Returns: A Growing Environmental Concern” packlab.gr

8. The Environmental Impact of Returning Online Products CleanHub blog