Return Rate

The return rate is the percentage of products sold that are returned by customers.

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The return rate is the percentage of sold products that is returned by customers.

How to calculate return rate

The return rate can be calculated by dividing the number of products returned by the total number of products sold and multiplying by 100.

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It is also possible to calculate the return rate based on the return value in euros, in order to immediately see the financial impact of returns on your revenue.

What is the cost of returns?

Research shows that the average return cost in the Netherlands is around €12.50 per return, including transportation costs from the customer.

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The true cost of processing a return depends on several factors, but in practice it varies between a few euros to tens of euros per return.

How many packages are returned?

The ACM' s most recent research found that by 2021 there were some 57.5 million returns out of more than 500 million packages sent in the B2C market segment throughout the Netherlands.

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With this, return packages accounted for 11.4% of B2C volume and 10.2% of total package movements in the B2C market segment. When it comes to fashion, where most returns are made, the average is above 30%.

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For example, the average return rate for women's fashion is 40.6% in the Netherlands. In Germany the percentage is 50.9% and in France 19.2%.

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The percentage of returned products is many times higher on a brand's own online store. On average, more than 60% of purchases on marketplaces are returned.