The true cost of free returns

Groceries, phone accessories, yard equipment, curling irons — we buy everything online nowadays. And we return a lot of it as well. Retailers took back $100 billion in items in 2021. An ASU supply chain expert breaks down the consequences on the environment.

Groceries, phone accessories, yard equipment, curling irons — we buy everything online nowadays. And we return a lot of it as well. Retailers took back $100 billion in items in 2021. An ASU supply chain expert breaks down the consequences on the environment.

In this interview aired Feb. 11, 2022, on WHYY:

What consumers need to understand is that online e-commerce has a three-time return rate than physical retail.

– Hitendra Chaturvedi, supply chain management professor of practice