Reverse Christmas

Oh, oh, oh. 

We are officially in the annual Reverse Christmas Season.

Reverse Christmas means returns and refunds time. It begins the day after Christmas and continues for weeks.

As businesses geared up for the peak holiday sales period, they also braced themselves for the inevitable wave of post-Christmas returns, a trend that continues to grow year over year.

First the rush to get the stuff, then the rush to get rid of it. 

That all makes perfect sense. 

Right?

• $158 billion worth of merchandise is estimated to be returned after the 2024 holiday season, a significant rise from 2023’s $141 billion.
• 17% of all holiday purchases are expected to be returned in January 2025.
• Electronics and clothing top the list, with 45% of returned products falling into these categories.
• An estimated 58% of consumers will leverage free return shipping policies to send items back.

• Retailers experience a 60% spike in return requests in the weeks following Christmas compared to the rest of the year.
• January 2nd marks the peak return day for most major retailers, with some companies processing over 1 million returns in a single day.
• 45% of returns occur within the first two weeks after Christmas, driven by New Year’s resolutions and gift exchanges.

• Kitchen gadgets and small appliances contribute to 8% of holiday returns, often because they fail to meet expectations or are gifted to someone who already owns them.
• Fitness equipment experiences a surge in returns post-holiday, with 10% of purchases returned by mid-January.

• 30% of customers admit to over-purchasing during sales, knowing they can return items they don’t like or need.
• Environmental impact is a growing concern, with over 5 billion pounds of returned goods ending up in landfills each year.
• Circular economy initiatives are gaining traction, with 8% of returns being redirected to donation programs or resale markets.
• Fraudulent holiday returns cost retailers $7 billion annually, driven by activities like price switching and fake receipts.
• Returnless refunds, where customers keep the product, are employed by 18% of online retailers for low-value items.

Are you spending Reverse Christmas trying to do returns and refunds?

Or did you have a Buy Nothing Christmas, in which case you have nothing to worry about, and can carry on relaxing?

Let us know in a comment below.

See our post about Reverse Santa.