Most people have made an online purchase that they later needed to return. Simply put: where items are being sold, returns will happen. Since they are unavoidable, it all comes down to how you manage them in the end. Apparel retailers actually have a rather high rate of returns. Learn about four aspects regarding online clothing returns that you should be well aware of in advance, so you can create a winning policy that generates more sales and results in more loyal, satisfied customers.

Online clothing returns are the most rampant of all returns that are placed by consumers to e-commerce stores. A few reasons help us better understand why. For starters, people are unable to try on the clothing or touch it, or even see what cut looks best. All they have is a picture. Secondarily to that, people sometimes get the wrong item or a damaged item – all leading up to an estimated 33-35% rate of online clothing returns.

Perhaps the biggest reasons why the rate of online clothing returns is so stark is because people want to know that they are getting the right size. Say you order a pair of pants online. You know you have to wait a week or so to get it in the mail. Many people will want to know they get the right fit from that order. So they will order two or three pairs in different sizes to assure that they get the one that fits properly. The rest are returned to the vendor.

Wondering how important your returns policy is for online clothing returns? The numbers do not lie. According to concurrent and ongoing recent studies, about 60% or so of all people will review the policy that you are offering. A vast majority of them will decide whether or not they are going to make a purchase from your online store as a direct result. Naturally, this tells us that the returns policy is a direct influencer in decreasing shopping cart abandonment rates.

Finally, there is one more stat we want to throw at you: hassle-free online clothing returns matter, greatly. A UPS study that was conducted by Forrester found that 81% of shoppers are likelier to complete the purchase and become loyalists to your e-commerce store when returns are simple and easy, and free. Need some help creating your online clothing returns policy? Look to ReadyReturns and streamline returns at your online store.