Amazon's 2026 Prime Day in the US has just ended, and many sellers have noticed a difference this year compared to previous years. In previous years, sales typically recovered gradually within a week after the sale ended; however, this year, many sellers saw no significant order recovery even into early July, with some stores experiencing daily sales below pre-sale levels.

Why has sales been slow to recover after Prime Day?

This year, Prime Day was held earlier, from June 23rd to 26th, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of US Independence Day and the FIFA World Cup in the USA, significantly altering the consumer spending rhythm.

Many industry sellers reported that consumers released pent-up demand during the sale, and the subsequent increase in holiday travel and the World Cup's continued focus on consumer attention resulted in a prolonged period of low consumer spending. Industry experts generally predict that the US market may not return to normal sales patterns until mid-to-late July.

While slowing sales growth is certainly a headache, an even greater concern is the post-sale return peak, which typically arrives 1-2 weeks after the event ends, especially for categories like apparel, footwear, baby products, and outdoor gear, where returns often increase significantly.

Sellers are most prone to making these mistakes when sales decline:

When orders decrease, many sellers' first reaction is to reduce advertising budgets and lower prices, hoping to quickly boost sales.

However, when overall market demand has not yet recovered, these actions may not yield the desired results and could even negatively impact subsequent keyword rankings and profit margins.

In contrast, during the period after a major sale, three core metrics deserve more attention: return rate, inventory turnover, and cash flow.

If returned goods accumulate in the warehouse for an extended period, not only will storage costs continue to accrue, but delays in processing may also cause sellers to miss the optimal sales period. For seasonal goods, the longer the inventory remains unsold, the faster the product value depreciates.

Therefore, many experienced sellers focus more on return management after Prime Day, rather than solely pursuing new order growth.

Why is Returns Management Becoming Increasingly Important?

The United States has consistently been one of the e-commerce markets with the highest return rates globally. According to the "2025 Retail Returns Landscape" report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Happy Returns, total retail returns in the US are projected to reach $849.9 billion in 2025, accounting for 15.8% of total retail sales; the average return rate for e-commerce orders is 19.3%. This means that for every 100 items sold, nearly 20 will be returned on average.

Meanwhile, according to data released by the US Department of Commerce and compiled by Digital Commerce 360, US e-commerce retail sales are projected to reach approximately $1.234 trillion in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 5.4%, accounting for 23.1% of all online retail sales.

With the continued growth of online consumption, returns have become a necessary daily operational aspect for cross-border sellers operating in the US market. However, many sellers overlook one crucial point: what truly erodes profits is not the customer's request for a refund, but rather the efficiency of processing returns.

Many returned items don't actually have quality issues; they're simply damaged packaging, missing labels, dust from shipping, or unused items after being opened by the consumer. If local quality inspection, repackaging, and simple sorting are done promptly, these items still have a chance to resell.

What can a professional returns warehouse do for sellers during the post-sale return peak?

For cross-border sellers, the period after major sales events is often the peak time for returns and the most challenging time to handle them.

U-Speed's US returns warehouses offer a one-stop returns service with a dual-warehouse layout, solving return problems for cross-border sellers. The New Jersey warehouse in the East Coast has an area of 7,250 square meters and a daily processing capacity of over 20,000 items; the Los Angeles warehouse in the West Coast has an area of 7,250 square meters and a daily processing capacity of over 10,000 items, handling both consumer returns and returns from Amazon FBA and other overseas warehouses.

U-Speed operates with a collaborative team of Chinese management and local Chinese operations in the US, providing sellers with services such as return receipt confirmation, photo quality inspection, and repackaging. Three quality inspection photos are uploaded to the system for each item, allowing sellers to remotely monitor product status. Return logistics take approximately 3-5 business days, and quality inspection takes approximately 2 business days, helping sellers quickly make return processing decisions.

For categories with high Prime Day return volumes, such as apparel, footwear, bags, and home goods, U-Speed also offers customized return processing services including lint removal, simple cleaning, ironing, and odor removal, helping more eligible products return to market, increasing resale rates, and reducing value loss from abandoned goods.

Furthermore, U-Speed provides integrated US cross-border logistics services including warehousing, drop shipping, and return processing, helping sellers achieve seamless coordination across the entire process of warehousing, shipping, and returns, reducing communication costs associated with dealing with multiple suppliers.

Sales fluctuations after Prime Day are part of the market cycle, and a short-term decline in orders does not necessarily indicate operational problems. For cross-border sellers, instead of rushing to lower prices to boost sales, it's better to use this time to optimize return management and improve inventory turnover efficiency, preparing for the next sales cycle.

Especially during peak return periods, establishing a professional and efficient local US return processing system can not only shorten return processing times but also increase the resale rate of returned goods, reducing disposal and storage costs. When the market recovers, sellers with healthy inventory and stable cash flow are often better positioned to seize new growth opportunities.