Every holiday shopping season brings anticipation to cross-border sellers with increased orders, but the risks also amplify simultaneously. According to data released by ACI Worldwide, global e-commerce will experience a 25% increase in "friendly fraud" during the period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday this year. These refund disputes, known as "Friendly Fraud," typically arise when consumers, after completing a legitimate purchase, request a refund for reasons such as "not received," "misrepresentation," or "unauthorized transaction."
Notably, this year's increased risk coincides with the average transaction amount rising to $291 during the holiday season, a 21% increase year-on-year (an increase of $52), making the already high cost of disputes even more destructive. ACI Worldwide's analysis indicates that global retailers lose approximately $103 billion annually due to "friendly fraud." For cross-border sellers, the US market offers a large order volume, but the costs of disputes and returns are equally significant. Maintaining profitability amidst the peak season and high return pressure is a crucial issue that must be considered in advance.
US Peak Season Return Pressure Continues to Rise
In the US market, returns are a frequent occurrence. Consumers changing their minds after purchase, gifts not meeting expectations, and sizing issues all contribute to a surge in returns, with return rates often rising higher during peak seasons when promotions are more aggressive. According to data from the National Retail Federation (NRF), the average return rate during the holiday season typically hovers between 15% and 18% (publicly available reports), and is even higher for some categories.
Against this backdrop, the increase in "friendly fraud" undoubtedly exacerbates the pressure on sellers. If valid proof cannot be provided after a dispute, platforms or payment institutions often directly determine the seller's responsibility, resulting in not only a deduction of the order amount but also additional chargeback fees. Many cross-border merchants are therefore gradually realizing that return processing capability is not just an after-sales service issue, but a core competency affecting profits and compliance.
So, what can cross-border sellers do in the face of "friendly fraud"?
In terms of risk control, common measures taken by sellers include:
Retaining key evidence such as logistics tracking, signed receipts, and quality inspection records;
Improving product description quality to reduce disputes arising from "misrepresentation";
Improving packaging and strengthening outbound inspection to avoid disputes related to transportation damage;
Estimating peak season return volumes in advance to ensure uninterrupted logistics.
However, sellers often cannot achieve comprehensive coverage on their own, especially in the "returns" process—every step of handling returned goods directly impacts dispute resolution, cost control, and the ability to quickly resell inventory.
Therefore, more and more sellers are choosing to outsource their US return processing to professional return warehouses. This ensures that goods are received, stored, inspected, verified, and processed promptly, guaranteeing a complete after-sales process, comprehensive evidence, and reducing secondary losses. This is precisely the value of professional US return warehouses.
U-Speed US return warehouse: Enhancing the Peak Season Resilience of Cross-Border Sellers
U-Speed operates self-owned return warehouses on both the East and West coasts of the United States, covering major consumer areas and ensuring efficient return processing.
East Coast (New Jersey) Returns Warehouse: 7250 square meters; Daily processing capacity: 20,000+ orders; Suitable for densely populated areas such as New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
West Coast (Los Angeles) Returns Warehouse: 7250 square meters; Daily processing capacity: 10,000+ orders; Located near the Port of Los Angeles, covering return needs in California and surrounding states.
Both warehouses are equipped with forklifts, light and heavy-duty racking, fire monitoring, 24-hour security systems, and CCTV, ensuring high-quality return processing throughout the entire process with stable warehouse facilities.
Return processing efficiency is U-Speed's core advantage.
Many peak season disputes stem from excessively long return processing times; therefore, the ability of a returns warehouse to process returns quickly is the most valued capability by sellers. U-Speed's US returns warehouse excels in delivery speed:
Returns inspection time: Completed within 2 days.
Returns logistics time: Returned to the seller's designated location within 3-5 days.
This means sellers can provide complete evidence within the platform's required timeframe, resolving disputes faster and quickly relisting resaleable items.
Dual-team collaboration + customized services enhance processing stability.
U-Speed employs a collaborative model of a "US local operations team + China management team," with the China team leading the management process and the US-based Chinese team executing the operations. Combined with a professional customer service team, this significantly reduces processing delays caused by cross-time zone communication.
In terms of service content, U-Speed not only provides returns inspection, relabeling, repackaging, and reshipment, but also extends to: first-leg transportation, overseas warehousing, drop shipping, and reverse returns. This forms a closed-loop cross-border logistics service, eliminating the need for sellers to handle multiple suppliers, making it ideal for sellers with high order volumes and fast-paced operations during peak seasons.
The continued rise in "friendly fraud" reflects the deepening after-sales and financial risks faced by cross-border sellers during peak seasons. In this environment, a stable, professional, and efficient US return processing system is no longer an option, but rather crucial for protecting profits, enhancing risk control capabilities, and maintaining healthy operations.
U-Speed's US return warehouses, leveraging their network across the East and West coasts, mature quality inspection and delivery systems, stable team collaboration, and closed-loop service, provide cross-border sellers with the necessary return processing capabilities during peak seasons. This helps sellers reduce dispute rates, shorten after-sales cycles, and increase inventory turnover, thereby maintaining a competitive edge.
