The holiday shopping season has always been a growth engine for the retail industry, but while sales have repeatedly broken records, returns have also reached unprecedented levels. Industry data shows that the total value of returned goods in 2025 reached $849.9 billion, with an average return rate of approximately 19% for online shopping. In the week following Christmas alone, returns increased by 4.7% year-on-year.
This trend is not accidental. As the online shopping experience continues to improve, consumers are becoming increasingly "tentative" in their ordering behavior, and returns are gradually becoming the norm, especially for cross-border sellers. Handling returns after the holiday season is becoming one of the most challenging aspects of their operations.
Changes in consumer return behavior are reshaping sellers' cost structures.
From the consumer's perspective, the rise in return rates is not entirely due to product quality issues, but more so to changes in shopping habits. Surveys show that 56% of consumers buy multiple sizes or colors at once, keeping only the most suitable item after receiving it; in addition, approximately 69% of consumers place orders for short-term needs such as taking photos or attending parties, returning them immediately after use. This phenomenon is particularly evident in categories such as clothing, footwear, and accessories.
For sellers, this means returns are no longer a risk that can be completely avoided by "improving product selection," but a structural problem. More realistically, as the scale of returns continues to expand, over 72% of retailers have begun to offset costs by charging return fees or tightening return policies. However, the contradiction lies in the fact that 82% of consumers still consider "whether free returns are supported" a crucial factor influencing their purchase decisions. A poor return experience directly impacts repeat purchases and brand loyalty.
For cross-border sellers, the real challenge lies "after" the returns are processed.
In the domestic e-commerce context, the core issues of returns are mostly concentrated on quality inspection and relisting; however, in cross-border e-commerce, the complexity of returns is further amplified. Especially for sellers targeting the US market, once returns occur, they often face real problems such as slow delivery, lack of transparency, and uncontrollable processing times.
If returned goods need to be shipped back across borders, not only are the costs high, but the processing time can also be several weeks long. During this period, sellers still need to issue refunds first, further increasing cash flow pressure. More commonly, due to a lack of local receiving and processing capabilities in the US, some goods are simply destroyed by default on the platform, turning items that still have sales value into sunk costs.
With high return rates becoming the norm, the ability to efficiently receive, assess, and process returns locally in the US is becoming a key variable for cross-border sellers to control losses.
US-based return warehouses are becoming the "infrastructure" for return management.
More and more sellers are realizing that returns are not something they can passively accept, but can be managed proactively. By centralizing the receiving, quality inspection, and sorting of returns locally in the US, sellers can better understand the status of their goods and decide whether to relist, relabel, or centrally return or destroy them.
This model does not necessarily reduce the platform's return rate, but it significantly reduces losses caused by information delays, giving sellers more initiative in refund processing, inventory management, and cost accounting.
U-Speed US return warehouse Helps Sellers Cope with High Return Rates
U-Speed has deployed return warehouse resources on both the East and West coasts of the US, focusing on the US cross-border return scenario.
U-Speed's East Coast (New Jersey) return warehouse has a total area of approximately 7,250 square meters and a daily processing capacity of over 20,000 items; its West Coast (Los Angeles) return warehouse also has 7,250 square meters and can handle over 10,000 return orders daily. Both warehouses are equipped with forklifts, light and heavy-duty shelving, fire protection and monitoring systems, and implement 24-hour security and CCTV management, meeting the standardized storage and handling needs of different categories of returned goods.
In terms of execution, U-Speed adopts a model where the Chinese management team leads the process design, while the local Chinese team in the US handles the actual operations, reducing communication costs caused by time zones and language barriers. Generally, returned goods can complete quality inspection feedback within 2 days, and subsequent return logistics processing takes approximately 3-5 days, helping sellers complete refunds and subsequent decisions within the platform's stipulated timeframe.
From return pressure to operational capabilities, sellers are redefining "after-sales value."
With the ever-expanding scale of returns, competition among cross-border sellers is no longer limited to front-end traffic and price, but is increasingly extending to the after-sales process. Having a stable and executable US return solution is impacting a seller's long-term cost structure and account health.
Building upon its US return warehouses, U-Speed also offers cross-border logistics services combining warehousing, dropshipping, and returns, helping sellers reduce the uncertainty of dealing with multiple parties. Simultaneously, U-Speed has established return warehouse resources in countries such as the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, providing more flexible return support for sellers operating across multiple marketplaces.
As returns become the norm in cross-border e-commerce, transforming "returns" from uncontrollable losses into a manageable process is becoming a real challenge that sellers must face.
