Online clothing return rate: how many fashion orders come back?
Around a quarter of clothing bought online is returned. For large retailers, that creates a huge operational challenge. For smaller fashion brands, the numbers may be lower, but the impact can feel bigger.
What is the average online clothing return rate?
McKinsey’s apparel returns study put the ecommerce return rate for clothing at roughly 25 per cent, compared with around 20 per cent across all channels.
The European Environment Agency has also reported that average clothing returns are around one in five, with online returns running up to three times higher than returns from physical stores.
In simple terms, online fashion returns are high because customers are buying without trying the garment on first.
For smaller brands, even a modest return rate can create a lot of work. A return does not end when the parcel arrives back. The garment still has to be inspected, sorted and made ready for its next route.
What does return rate actually measure?
Return rate is the percentage of products, orders or sales value that customers send back.
If a brand sells 1,000 garments online and 250 are returned, the item return rate is 25 per cent.
But return rate does not show what happens next.
A brand also needs to know:
- how many returns go straight back into stock
- how many need cleaning
- how many need steaming or pressing
- how many need repair
- how many are missing tags
- how many are marked down
- how many sit in storage
- how many are written off
- how much value is recovered
Two brands can have the same return rate but very different commercial outcomes.
One may recover most returned items quickly. Another may lose value because garments wait too long, need attention, or cannot be handled through a practical recovery route.
Why are online clothing return rates so high?
Fashion has a higher return rate than many other ecommerce categories because fit and feel are difficult to judge online.
A customer may return a garment because:
- the size was wrong
- the fit was different from expected
- the colour looked different in person
- the fabric felt different
- the style did not suit them
- they ordered multiple sizes
- they bought for one event and changed their mind
- they wore it once and returned it
McKinsey has attributed around 70 per cent of apparel returns to sizing or appearance once the garment arrives.
For smaller brands, this is hard to eliminate completely. Better size guides, product photography and fit notes can help, but returns will still happen.
Bracketing and wardrobing
Two behaviours make fashion returns harder to manage.
Bracketing
Bracketing is when a shopper orders several sizes, colours or styles with the intention of keeping one and sending the rest back.
For the customer, this feels convenient. For the brand, it creates extra shipping, handling and return processing. It can also mean several perfectly good garments are out of stock while they are sitting in someone’s home.
Wardrobing
Wardrobing is when a customer wears a garment once and then returns it.
This is common in occasionwear, partywear, premium dresses, tailoring and rental-adjacent categories. The returned item may have make-up, perfume, odour, creasing or wear marks.
That garment may still be valuable. But it is unlikely to be resale-ready without professional cleaning and conditioning.
Why returns hit smaller brands harder
Smaller fashion brands do not always have the same returns infrastructure as larger retailers.
A small team may be trying to manage customer service, fulfilment, stock control, marketing and returns at the same time. Returned garments can easily sit in a box waiting for someone to make a decision.
That delay costs money.
A garment may miss its resale window. A seasonal item may no longer be in demand. A rental piece may miss its next booking. A product that could have gone back at full price may end up discounted.
Smaller brands also tend to carry less stock. Losing one garment matters more when the production run is small.
This is why recovery has to be practical. It cannot depend on large minimum quantities or enterprise-level contracts.
What happens when returned stock is not resale-ready?
A returned garment may fail resale checks for simple reasons.
Common issues include:
- make-up marks
- perfume or odour
- creasing
- misshaping
- damaged packaging
- missing swing tags
- loose threads
- missing buttons
- small seam faults
- pet hair or lint
- storage marks
None of these necessarily mean the garment should be written off.
But without a recovery route, the brand may have limited options. The item may be marked down, held back, sold cheaply or forgotten in storage.
That is the gap garment recovery solves.
Do all returned clothes get resold?
No.
Research by Roichman and colleagues, based on around 630,000 garments, found that between 22 and 44 per cent of returns were not resold to a second consumer.
For smaller brands, the important lesson is not just the size of the problem. It is the missed value.
Some garments are genuinely unsellable. But many need cleaning, conditioning, repair or finishing before they can go back to sale.
The sooner the brand can identify which is which, the more value it can protect.
The problem with waiting for enough volume
Many smaller brands try to hold returns until there is “enough” to do something with them.
That can create a bigger problem.
If garments sit too long, they may:
- miss the selling season
- need more work later
- become harder to match back to stock
- take up space
- lose resale value
- be forgotten
- end up in markdown
This often happens because traditional reconditioning services are built around minimum volumes.
Opera Garment Solutions takes a different approach. Brands can recover garments in any quantity, so smaller businesses do not have to wait until the pile is big enough.
How recovery changes the return rate problem
You may not be able to remove returns completely.
But you can change what happens after the return.
Garment recovery can help turn returned stock back into sellable stock through:
- inspection
- grading
- cleaning
- deodorising
- stain removal
- steaming
- pressing
- repair
- relabelling
- re-tagging
- final presentation
For a smaller brand, the benefit is straightforward. More garments can go back on sale. Fewer need to be marked down. Less stock sits unresolved. More value is recovered from products you already paid to make.
What kinds of small brands benefit?
Garment recovery can be useful for:
- independent fashion labels
- occasionwear brands
- rental businesses
- bridal and eventwear sellers
- premium resale sellers
- boutiques
- small ecommerce stores
- sample sale operators
- slow fashion brands
- made-to-order brands with returns
- brands with seasonal deadstock
The common factor is not size. It is value.
If the garment is worth saving, recovery should be available.
How Opera Garment Solutions helps
Opera Garment Solutions helps fashion brands recover returned and unsold garments without large minimum quantities, making garment recovery more accessible for smaller brands who may have tried larger providers and found the minimum quantities too high.
A high online clothing return rate does not have to mean high write-offs. With the right recovery route, more returned garments can earn their next sale.
( About the author )
Joanna Lambert
CEO & Co-Founder, Opera Garment Solutions
Joanna Lambert is CEO and co-founder of Opera Garment Solutions, which recovers returned, damaged and unsold clothing for fashion brands across the EU and the UK from hubs in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain. She writes on the EU destruction ban and on what returned stock is worth when it goes back to sale.