With the NRF and Happy Returns reporting that the 2024 winter holiday return rate in the US will likely be about 17% higher than retailers’ typical return rate for the year, retailers preemptively onboarded additional logistics solutions and providers, hired additional returns management staff, and invested in making returns flow as smoothly as possible. This additional returns management spending means returns are cutting more deeply into overall per-sale revenue.
Moreover, online purchase return rates were reported to be 21% higher than the retailer’s overall return rates.
Respondents to a Statista survey in the UK indicated their clothing purchases were their top returned items.
What is driving apparel returns?
The underlying issue is, and has always been, poor cut and fit. If we do not, as a global fashion retail industry, address the disconnect between garment cut and fit, and each online shopper’s body structure, we will never reduce returns.
Why does retail struggle to get ahead of returns?
It’s a tale as old as (online) time. The ease and convenience of online shopping logistics, payment, and return credit processes means retailers face a pandora’s box of returns management. But catering to customer needs, particularly through easy returns policies, also drives sales and brand loyalty.
Current solutions aren’t solving the returns problem, and in fact, may be exacerbating the increasing consumer behavior of bracketing
In our view, the biggest gap in solving the returns problem, is addressing the mismatch between a garment’s cut and fit, and the shopper’s body structure.
Preventing returns before they happen with Catecut
Catecut’s mission is to help ensure online shoppers look and feel their best in the clothing they buy online. We accomplish this by addressing the issue of cut and fit, the primary driver of returns in fashion retail.
Size guide solutions, which offer some guardrails, have proven ineffective in preventing returns. The lack of standardisation, as well as the fluctuations in fit due to variations across brands, and how a garment’s cut drapes or sits on various body structures, means online consumers continue to face a lack of certainty when buying clothing. This lack of shopping confidence leads to failed shopping experiences, cart abandonment, and inevitably returns.
Founded by a professional wardrobe stylist and a sustainable clothing retailer, Catecut’s solution tackles the two largest challenges for retailers and shoppers alike: deep product tagging and customised recommendations informed by a combination of the shopper’s individual body structure and the garment’s unique cut & fit.
Product tagging
Catecut’s proprietary AI models and algorithms are the only solution that is informed by the principles and practices of professional wardrobe styling and a deep understanding of garment design. Our solution analyses product imagery and enriches the product descriptions to strengthen search and overall SEO.
Cut & fit matching
Catecut’s styling solution, which is embedded into a retailer or fashion retail marketplace’s online store matches garment recommendations to each unique shopper based on both the garment’s structure and the shopper’s unique body shape. This customises the shopping experience, saves time, and helps mitigate returns due to poor fit– the #1 cause of apparel returns globally.
US media NBC recently reported that returns in the US alone cost retailers $890 billion, and around 17% of all merchandise. Catecut wants to help you save billions while giving your online buyers exceptional shopping experiences.
