What: Research from SML Group found that a third of retailers say they are spending too much time manually processing returned items.

Why it is important: The rise in returns and finding impactful solutions has been an ongoing issue for retailers as 26% of retailers cite lack of staff as the main cause of the issue.

In 2022, retailers claimed that 30% of items are returned, with 47% of those returned items being sold at full price, 42% being sold at a discounted price, and 12% not being resold.

42% of retailers reported that they don’t have enough staff on the sales floor and 30% said that staff are spending too much time on mundane tasks.

Investing in item-level RFID technology is one solution suggested, as it can streamline back-end operations and send items back to floor quickly which then allows staff to be on the sales floor and help customers.

Retailers are spending too much time processing returns