A month built for decisions rather than discounts
If you’ve ever walked through a European city in August, you’ll have noticed it: quieter streets, shops on reduced hours, and more “out of office” replies than actual emails. It’s not that commerce stops, it’s that attention shifts. In Northern Europe especially, the holiday season is culturally ingrained. Offices are slow, inboxes fill with autoreplies, and even logistics networks run at a gentler hum.
But here’s the nuance: August isn’t always the lowest sales month if you look purely at Eurostat data. In fact, January and February traditionally see sharper dips as post-holiday spending contracts. What August does offer, however, is something harder to measure but no less real: a lull in decision-making velocity. Projects stall. Campaign calendars pause. Teams scatter. It’s not that demand disappears, it’s that the tempo of e-commerce slows just enough to catch your breath.
For certain sectors, this lull is felt more acutely. Fashion and lifestyle brands see shoppers hold off until new autumn lines drop in September. Amazon and Zalando shift from the frenzy of July’s promotions into quieter weeks before Q4 builds. It’s less a “collapse” and more an intermission, perhaps. A rare gap between the steady hum of summer sales and the Q4 crescendo.
For leaders, this gap could be gold in some respects. It’s the time when firefighting stops, inboxes empty, and crucially, your competitors are also quieter. That makes August not a slump but a strategic window. Rather than chasing marginal summer sales, the most effective leaders repurpose this time to tighten the very gears that will matter most when the machine starts running hot again. One of the most overlooked, yet highest-leverage areas? Returns.
Because when Black Friday hits, you don’t want to be thinking about why your refund queue is two weeks behind.
If August gave you the space to fix just one operational choke point before the holiday peak, would you use it on the part of your business that most visibly tests customer trust?
Because it’s a problem that quietly costs more than ads
Imagine standing in your warehouse in January. Racks overflow with half-opened parcels. Staff are knee-deep in cardboard. Refund emails ping faster than they can be answered. It’s not just a messy picture; it’s a familiar one for any e-commerce leader.
Here’s the reality: in Europe, returns aren’t a side issue. They are the issue. Across the continent, online return rates hover between 30% and 40%, far higher than in markets like the U.S. (≈17%). In Germany, it’s routine for fashion brands to see half of all orders come back. For womenswear, 40-50% is standard; some retailers even report 70% return rates in certain segments.
Why so high? Culture and consumer habits play a role. Generous EU return rights, free-label policies, and “bracketing” (ordering multiple sizes with the intention of sending most back) are now baked into shopping behavior. Fashion dominates these statistics: clothing, shoes, and accessories account for nearly half of all returns in Europe. By contrast, electronics hover at 5-10%, but a single damaged laptop wipes out far more margin than five t-shirts.
The numbers are sobering
The average cost of processing a return ranges between €5 and €10 per item. For bulky or expensive items, we are looking at €10–€20 per item. Factor in that 20–65% of an item’s value is eroded once it’s been returned and discounted, and it’s easy to see why even healthy revenue can be eaten alive by sloppy reverse logistics.
And this isn’t just a balance-sheet concern. Consumers notice. Nearly 45% expect refunds within three days, and two-thirds say a poor returns experience would stop them buying again. The “returns tsunami” each January doesn’t just strain your warehouse; it risks eroding trust when you need it most.
This is why August matters. It’s the quiet before that storm, the one chance to fortify your returns process before the peak arrives. Not by adding headcount after the fact, but by rewiring workflows when there’s breathing room.
If returns quietly cost you more than any marketing campaign ever delivered, isn’t it worth asking if they still get less boardroom attention than acquisition spend?
If 70% of your orders came back, would you call that a cost… or a design flaw?
Not all returns hurt equally. If you run a fashion brand, you don’t need a spreadsheet to tell you this; you feel it in your warehouses every January. Shoes that look tried on once. Dresses still with tags. A familiar cycle: sell hard in Q4, spend Q1 undoing it.
The numbers back that intuition. Fashion sits at the epicenter of Europe’s return culture: clothing alone drives roughly 19% of all returns, shoes another 14%, and accessories 11%. Together, that’s nearly half of the total volume. In Germany, a major fashion market, some womenswear lines face return rates approaching 70%, a figure that would sound absurd in electronics or home goods.
Why fashion? Because the fit is inherently imperfect online. Because styles are subjective. And because free returns have taught shoppers to “bracket” without guilt. What feels like harmless customer behavior quietly creates a logistics and margin problem on your side of the screen.
It’s not only fashion, though. Luxury brands see returns driven by service expectations, what’s acceptable at Zara might feel unacceptable at Louis Vuitton. Footwear suffers from size inconsistencies between brands. Even home goods and electronics, with lower return rates (5–10%), have high-cost risks: a returned sofa is expensive to move, a scratched smartphone unsellable at full price.
Then there are marketplace sellers. On platforms like Amazon, as of 2021, return policies are dictated for you. If you sell apparel there, you eat the cost of mandatory free returns. Direct-to-consumer brands, meanwhile, have more control—but also face shoppers who expect free returns as standard (75% of online buyers), even as margins tighten.
This is where August becomes useful. With fewer active campaigns, it’s easier to deep-dive into which products, geographies, or customer segments drive the bulk of your returns. Dresses returned at double the rate of jeans? A pattern of serial returners in one market? Each insight offers a lever to pull: better size charts, virtual try-ons, clearer product descriptions, or targeted “fair use” policies.
Because here’s the truth: most return problems aren’t mysterious. They’re knowable, measurable, and fixable, but only if you pause long enough to look.
If you could pinpoint the 10% of products or policies causing 50% of your returns, what would change first? Your product pages, your logistics, or your mindset about what’s “normal” for your category?
ASOS, Zalando, Zara: Three ways big players changed returns (and behavior followed)
One of the quiet luxuries of leadership is perspective: you don’t always need to be first; you need to know who made the mistakes already. Returns are no different. The smartest operators aren’t starting from scratch; they’re looking sideways.
Take ASOS. For years, it built loyalty on free, no-questions-asked returns. But behind the scenes, 6% of its customers were responsible for a £100 million hit to profitability through chronic over-ordering and returns. Their solution? A subtle shift: a £3.95 fee for “serial returners.” Outrage online was loud but fleeting. The behavioral effect was sharp: over time, ASOS rebalanced the equation without alienating most customers.
Or look at Zalando. Once famous for telling shoppers to “order multiple sizes and send back what you don’t want,” it spent recent years quietly deploying AI-driven size recommendations and customer measurement tools. The result wasn’t just fewer returns; it was a nudge in customer behavior. Data-driven reassurance (“this size is 92% likely to fit”) reframed the decision at checkout and reduced the need for bracketing.
Even Zara (Inditex), a fast-fashion juggernaut, did something unthinkable a few years ago: it began charging a modest €2 fee for online returns unless brought in-store. The logic wasn’t just cost recovery. It nudged shoppers towards in-store returns, where conversion rates for exchanges or add-on purchases are naturally higher. Small charge, dual benefit.
These signals tell us three things:
- Return policies are evolving faster than most competitors’ websites.
- Customers adapt more easily than we fear, especially when changes are framed with convenience or fairness.
- Returns aren’t just logistics, they’re behavioral.
And then there’s benchmarking. For fashion in Europe, a 40–50% return rate is “normal.” Electronics hover closer to 5–10%. Best-in-class refund times are 48 hours from receipt. These aren’t abstract KPIs—they’re what your customers already experience elsewhere. If Zalando refunds in two days and you take a week, the comparison writes itself.
The lesson? Every improvement has a compounding effect: cut refund time, you cut service tickets. Add better size guidance; you cut bracketing. Introduce clear policies, you reduce abuse. Each lever reinforces the next.
Question: If your competitors are already reshaping customer expectations on returns - speed, cost, convenience - do you want to set the standard in your category, or quietly inherit theirs?
The unsexy process that saves more margin than your best campaign
An audit isn’t glamorous. It doesn’t deliver instant revenue. But in e-commerce, it’s one of those quiet levers that determines how well you survive peak season. The difference between a smooth January and a chaotic one often comes down to what happens in August.
Here are some things you can think about:
1. Follow the data trail
Start where the evidence is. Pull 6–12 months of returns data and segment it: by product, region, return reason. Patterns emerge quickly:
- Are dresses returned twice as often as trousers?
- Do German customers return 50% more often than Italians (as EU data suggests)?
- Are certain SKUs refunded more for “fit” versus “fault”?
Each answer points to a specific lever: clearer sizing charts, adjusted photography, or region-specific messaging. It’s less about “reducing returns overall” and more about trimming the few that cause outsized cost and friction.
2. Walk your own policy
Open your site and return something as if you were a customer. Count the clicks. Note the friction.
- Is your returns policy buried in small print?
- Is it written in legalese or plain language?
- How fast do you get your refund email?
Customers judge policies as much by tone as by terms. Research shows 71% of Nordic shoppers value clear, simple return language over lenient timeframes. The fix isn’t always generosity; it’s transparency.
3. Tune the logistics loop
Returns aren’t just customer experience—they’re supply chain.
- Centralized vs. regional hubs: Could local EU return points cut transit days (and cost)?
- Processing speed: How many hours from dock to refund trigger? If it’s days, not hours, bottlenecks are hiding in plain sight.
- Recovery: Are you reselling “like-new” items quickly, or letting them age into markdown purgatory?
Small process changes, like auto-routing returns to the nearest hub, compound fast. A 24-hour faster refund means fewer service tickets and higher trust.
4. Set “good enough” targets, not perfection
A 0% return rate is a fantasy. What matters is knowing what “healthy” looks like:
- Fashion: 40–50% in markets like Germany is typical.
- Electronics: 5–10% is the norm.
- Refund timing: <3 days satisfies 45% of customers; best-in-class hits 48 hours.
Improvement here is incremental: cutting the return rate by even 2 points can mean hundreds of thousands back to margin over Q4.
5. Prep the people, not just the process
Returns season is a people challenge as much as a systems one.
- Cross-train staff now so January doesn’t rely on temp hires learning under pressure.
- Align with 3PLs early; don’t wait until December to confirm capacity.
- Update service scripts - “Where’s my refund?” is the single most common post-peak ticket.
Think of it as rehearsal: August can be the month where you can fix weak points without a live audience.
Returns are a behavioral problem disguised as a logistics one: they test your systems, but they also test customer patience. Every small improvement in speed, clarity, or fairness isn’t just operational, it’s psychological.
If peak season is a stress test you can’t avoid, what would it be worth to enter it knowing your returns process is already one variable you don’t need to fear?
August isn’t slow, it’s silent compounding
In retail, there are months that shout (November’s Black Friday, December’s holiday peak), and months that whisper. August is a whisper.
Not because sales vanish (they don’t: Eurostat data shows January and February are quieter). August is different because it slows the tempo of everything else. Emails drop, campaigns pause, competitors go quiet. Decision-making space opens up. And that space is rare.
In behavioral terms, August offers something more valuable than raw sales volume: uncontested attention. It’s the one month where you can look inward without the noise of Q4 or the hangover of Q1. Your team has room to review, refine, and reset before the next surge hits.
Returns are a perfect fit for this window. They don’t demand daily firefighting when volumes are low—but they define your operational resilience when volumes spike. That’s why August works: it's preparation in its least glamorous, most valuable form.
Think of it as inter-seasonal compounding: small adjustments now, faster refund workflows, clearer policies, tighter reverse logistics, quietly pay out when the peak stress test comes. By January, they feel obvious in hindsight.
This is less about August itself and more about what August affords you: the freedom to make improvements that don’t just survive scrutiny but reduce next quarter’s unknowns. In a year where returns are trending upwards and customer expectations are tightening, doing nothing is the riskier play.
When next January arrives, refund queues full, inboxes demanding, would you rather be solving problems in real time, or remembering that you solved them in August when nobody else was looking?
Sources
Ecommerce Nation – E-commerce Returns in the European Market (overview of return rates and affected sectors)
https://www.ecommerce-nation.com/ecommerce-returns-european-market/
Shopify Enterprise – Ecommerce Returns: Average Return Rate and How to Reduce It (global return stats and costs; 20–65% return cost)
https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/blog/ecommerce-returns
NRF / Happy Returns – 2024 Consumer Returns Report (U.S. retail return rate ~16.9%, $890B value of returns)
https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/nrf-and-happy-returns-report-2024-retail-returns-total-890-billion
NRF / Happy Returns – Full Report PDF (2024 U.S. return data and methodology)
https://a-us.storyblok.com/f/1021220/x/84c63128d9/2024-consumer-returns-in-the-retail-industry-report_12-5-24-2.pdf
MyFBAPrep – Holiday Planning Dates 2024-25 (on Europe’s summer slowdown in August) https://myfbaprep.com/blog/holiday-planning-dates-2024-2025/
Prime AI – Clothing Return Rates by Country (Europe has highest return rates globally; UK ~35%, Germany ~50%, Italy ~22%)
https://prime-ai.com/europe-clothing-return-rates/
The Guardian – Asos to Charge Frequent Returners (case study of returns policy change; “6% of customers responsible for £100m hit”)
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/sep/06/asos-charge-return-goods-fee
InternetRetailing – ASOS to Charge High Returners £3.95 Fee (policy launch details)
https://internetretailing.net/asos-to-charge-high-returners-3-95-fee/
Business Mondays – Free Returns: Why ASOS Might Start Charging (£100m profitability impact; serial returners)
https://businessmondays.co.uk/free-returns-just-not-for-everyone-all-the-time-why-asos-might-start-charging-for-returns-and-the-impact-this-will-have-on-other-retailers/
ZigZag Global – E-commerce Returns Trends 2024 (insights on exchange programs and 70% return rates in German womenswear)
https://www.zigzag.global/blogs/ecommerce-returns-trends-2024
Euronews / AP – More Retailers Charging Return Fees (40% of retailers charging return fees in 2023 vs 31% prior)
https://www.euronews.com/business/2023/07/19/retailers-crack-down-on-free-returns-in-europe
Cross-Border Magazine – PostNord E-commerce in Nordics 2025 (Nordic consumers: 71% Norwegians value clear return policies)
https://cross-border-magazine.com/postnord-e-commerce-in-the-nordics-2025/
Radial – Retail Returns: Strategies for Success in 2024 (average cost to process a return ~$27)
https://www.radial.com/insights/retail-returns-strategies-for-success-in-2024
Ecosistant / EHI – Return Management in E-Commerce (EU cost per return €5–€20) https://www.ecosistant.eu/en/return-management-in-e-commerce-how-to-reduce-your-return-rates/
Payments Journal – Highest Online Shopping Return Rate (German womenswear returns approaching 70%)
https://www.paymentsjournal.com/highest-online-shopping-return-rate/
ETC CE (European Topic Centre on Circular Economy) – Report on Returned and Unsold Textiles (EU avg clothing returns ~20%, Germany ~30%)
https://www.eionet.europa.eu/etcs/etc-ce/products/etc-ce-report-2024-4-volumes-and-destruction-of-returned-and-unsold-textiles-in-europes-circular-economy/%40%40download/file/Textiles%20destruction%20-%20final%20for%20website%20%282%29.pdf
Just Style – Zalando Reduces Size-Related Returns with New Tool (AI sizing recommendations reducing returns)
https://www.just-style.com/news/zalando-reduces-size-related-returns-with-new-tool/
TrendWatching – Zalando’s Selfie Sizing Recommendation Tool (AI-driven sizing innovation)
https://www.trendwatching.com/innovation-of-the-day/zalando-shoppers-can-now-get-better-sizing-recommendations-by-uploading-two-selfies
Zalando Corporate – Size Recommendations Using Body Measurements (ML-based fit advice reducing returns) https://corporate.zalando.com/en/technology/zalando-launches-size-recommendations-based-customers-own-body-measurements
RetailDetail EU – Zara Introduces €1.95 Return Fee (policy shift toward in-store returns)
https://www.retaildetail.eu/news/fashion/zara-rekent-verzendkost-aan-voor-retours/
TheIndustry.fashion – Zara Begins Charging for Online Returns (policy details and timing)
https://www.theindustry.fashion/zara-begins-charging-customers-for-online-returns/
Retail Dive – Zara Charges for Some Returns (UK and EU rollout analysis)
https://www.retaildive.com/news/zara-now-charges-for-some-returns-will-other-retailers-follow/624906/
Parcel Monitor – Zara Return Policy Changes (shift to encourage in-store returns)
https://www.parcelmonitor.com/news/zara-makes-significant-changes-to-returns-policy/
Author
Thomas Bailey
Product Innovation Lead, nShift
Thomas plays a key role in shaping how new features and platform improvements deliver real value to customers. With a background spanning product, tech, and go-to-market strategy, he brings a pragmatic view of what innovation looks like in practice and how to make delivery experiences work harder for your business.
