In China's cross-border e-commerce landscape, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, has consistently been at the forefront. Leveraging its well-developed digital economy, e-commerce service ecosystem, and mature supply chain system, Hangzhou has attracted a large number of cross-border apparel sellers, covering women's wear, men's wear, fast fashion, and niche functional apparel.

Public information shows that Hangzhou is one of the key cities in the national comprehensive pilot zone for cross-border e-commerce, and its cross-border e-commerce exports have remained consistently active. With platforms like Amazon, TikTok Shop, and Temu continuously increasing their presence in the apparel category, more and more Hangzhou sellers are focusing on the US market as their core growth driver, gradually expanding their order volume and significantly accelerating their SKU update pace.

However, once their business enters a stable growth phase, many sellers encounter a real problem—US returns, which have shifted from an "occasional occurrence" to a "routine operation."

The Reality of US Returns Faced by Hangzhou Cross-Border Apparel Sellers

From the perspective of the overall US e-commerce market, apparel has consistently been one of the categories with the highest return rates. According to research by the NRF (National Retail Federation) and Statista, apparel and footwear consistently account for a high proportion of e-commerce returns. Incorrect sizing, unsatisfactory fit, and dissatisfaction after trying on are the most common reasons for returns.

In the actual operations of cross-border apparel sellers in Hangzhou, return issues manifest in several ways.

Firstly, processing costs increase rapidly with the volume of returns. Apparel categories have many SKUs and are highly seasonal; a concentrated wave of returns can easily impact the overall inventory structure.

Secondly, returning items to China is impractical. Most apparel items have a limited unit value; once returned to China, international shipping and customs clearance costs often exceed the value of the goods themselves.

More importantly, many returned garments are not due to quality issues, but simply due to trying them on, minor wrinkles, or damaged packaging. Without local processing capabilities in the US, these items are easily discarded, resulting in hidden losses.

This has led many Hangzhou sellers to re-evaluate returns: must returned items always be "scrambled," or are there better solutions?

For cross-border apparel sellers, returns don't necessarily mean the goods have lost their value. In practice, many returned garments only require basic processing to be resaleable.

Especially for large apparel sellers, if returned goods can undergo simple cleaning, ironing, lint removal, and odor removal, followed by repackaging and relisting, overall product utilization and profit margins will significantly improve.

However, all of this depends on having a US return warehouse with experience in processing apparel returns.

In the actual market, US return warehouses do exist that can support quality inspection and reprocessing of returned apparel. U-Speed's US return warehouse is one such solution adopted by many cross-border sellers.

U-Speed currently has two major return warehouses in the US: East Coast (New Jersey) and West Coast (Los Angeles), covering the return needs of major cross-border platforms:

U-Speed East Coast (New Jersey) Return Warehouse: Approximately 7250 square meters, with a daily return processing capacity of over 20,000 orders.

U-Speed's West Coast (Los Angeles) Returns Warehouse: The warehouse area is also 7250 square meters, with a daily processing capacity of approximately 10,000+ orders.

Both warehouses are equipped with forklifts, light and heavy-duty shelving, fire protection and monitoring systems, and employ 24-hour security and CCTV management to provide a stable environment for the storage and handling of returned apparel.

How does U-Speed's US returns warehouse help apparel sellers reduce return losses?

In terms of service model, U-Speed's US returns service is more tailored to the actual needs of apparel sellers.

Firstly, the return business management team in China manages the process uniformly, while the local Chinese team in the US handles the actual operations, working in conjunction with a professional customer service team to ensure clear information transmission and stable execution.

Secondly, in terms of processing efficiency, U-Speed's US returns quality inspection time is approximately 2 days, and the return logistics time is approximately 3-5 days. Sellers can quickly determine the status of returned goods, reducing inventory backlog.

For large cross-border apparel sellers, U-Speed also offers customized return services, including simple cleaning, ironing, lint removal, and odor removal, as well as assistance with repackaging and restocking to help sellers increase the reuse rate of returned goods.

In addition to return services, U-Speed also provides related services for US forward logistics, covering first-leg shipping, warehousing, and drop shipping, forming a relatively complete closed loop for US cross-border logistics services and reducing the costs of multiple intermediaries.

For cross-border apparel sellers in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, US returns are no longer a minor after-sales issue, but a necessary part of systematic planning for large-scale operations. Given the unavoidable high return rate, the ability to handle and restock locally is becoming a key factor affecting profit structure.

Using professional US return warehouses to transform returns from passive losses into a controllable process is becoming a practical choice for an increasing number of Hangzhou cross-border apparel sellers.