As people's awareness of sun protection increases, especially in North America where the sun is strong, sunscreen, spray, sunscreen and other products have become a must-have for families. In 2024, the global sunscreen market size has reached about 12.6 billion US dollars, and the United States is one of the largest consumer countries (NRF/Happy Returns report). But good product sales also mean a large number of returns. The return rate of e-commerce has been high in recent years. In 2024, the return rate of US e-commerce reached 16.9%, and the total retail return amount reached 685 billion US dollars, accounting for 13.2% of sales (NRF/Happy Returns).
Strong demand for sunscreen products in the US market
Consumers are increasingly paying attention to sun protection, which has become mainstream: whether it is daily outings or seaside vacations, from drugstores to online platforms, the sales of sunscreen products continue to increase. According to Business Research Insights, the global sunscreen market has reached 12.6 billion US dollars in 2024, and is expected to grow to 13.27 billion in 2025, and is expected to exceed 19.9 billion US dollars in 2033. The U.S. mineral sunscreen market reached $834 million in 2024, and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.8% in the future, exceeding $1.6 billion by 2030.
Consumers care not only about the sunscreen effect, but also the health of the ingredients and the texture. The market demand for "clean formula" sunscreen products without chemical filters, clean and waterproof continues to rise.
Why is the return rate of sunscreen products so high?
Despite the strong demand, the problem of returns is becoming increasingly prominent. According to the Blue Yonder survey, the overall return rate of cosmetics has surged, and 73% of retailers reported a significant increase in online returns; in the past two years, retailers have paid great attention to the optimization of the return management process. Although sunscreen products are small in size, they are frequently returned due to texture differences, sensitive reactions, damaged packaging, and activation time that does not meet expectations.
Feedback from e-commerce platforms shows that for consumers with different SPF, formula types, and formula sensitivities, the return rate is as high as 10%~20%. Due to the diverse forms and strict expiration requirements of sunscreen products, returned products often have practical problems such as easy oxidation and expiration, foundation residue, and pump head problems. Professional quality inspection is required to determine whether they can be resold.
Why do cross-border sellers urgently need local return warehouses in the United States?
If cross-border sellers choose to return the returned goods to China, not only will the freight be high and the time delay be delayed, but they may miss the opportunity to sell again. More importantly, sunscreen products belong to the OTC type of cosmeceuticals category, involving compliance requirements such as label compliance, shelf life verification, and safe batch tracking.
Therefore, a process system that can quickly receive, unpack, quality inspect, divert, return to warehouse or destroy in the United States has become an important link for sellers to reduce losses and maintain profits.
U-Speed US return warehouse: Professional after-sales protection of sunscreen products
The return warehouse established by U-Speed in the United States provides efficient solutions for personal care products including sunscreen products.
New Jersey Return Warehouse in the Eastern U.S.: Scale guarantees the needs of the eastern market
The return warehouse in New Jersey covers an area of 7,250 square meters and has an average daily processing capacity of more than 20,000 orders. In the face of returns of sunscreen products, the warehouse is equipped with temperature-controlled areas, anti-leakage treatment facilities, and a professional quality inspection team responsible for testing batch numbers, expiration dates, packaging integrity, nozzle functions, pollution conditions, etc. The quality inspection results can usually be reported within 48 hours, which is convenient for sellers to handle in a timely manner.
The warehouse is fully equipped: it has forklifts, heavy-duty shelves, fire protection and CCTV security systems to ensure the safe storage and standardized operation of returned goods.
Los Angeles Return Warehouse in the Western U.S.: Covering the western market and connecting to platform logistics nodes
The Los Angeles warehouse also covers an area of 7,250 square meters, with a daily processing capacity of more than 10,000 orders. It is geographically close to important e-commerce logistics hubs on the West Coast, suitable for handling returns from platforms such as Temu, TikTok Shop, and Amazon. The warehouse team is familiar with the quality inspection standards for OTC and cosmetics, and can perform unsealing inspection, nozzle trial, batch number verification, and copywriting proofreading for sunscreen products.
U-Speed service advantages, building a closed loop for returns
Bilingual team collaboration between China and the United States: The standard process is led by the Chinese management team, and the local Chinese operators in the United States implement it, supplemented by professional customer service, so that both communication and operation are accurate and seamless;
Leading quality inspection efficiency: The quality inspection report time under the standard process is within 2 days, and the logistics turnaround is controlled within 3-5 days;
High service integrity: covers modules such as return receipt, unpacking inspection, label proofreading, label change packaging, local destruction, one-piece delivery, and return to China;
Take into account both forward and reverse logistics: Sellers can use U-Speed to perform full-link operations including head transportation, local inventory, one-piece delivery, and return quality inspection to achieve efficiency and cost compatibility.
The popularity of the American sunscreen market continues to rise, and the sales potential is huge. However, the return rate cannot be ignored, and the return cost and operation process are also related to the seller's final profit. What cross-border sellers really need is a quality inspection system that can "process returns locally in the United States."
U-Speed's US return warehouse, with its professional facilities, fast quality inspection, efficient logistics and complete service closed loop, is becoming the preferred partner for more and more cross-border sellers. Whether you are selling sunscreen products on Amazon, Temu, TikTok Shop or an independent website, choose U-Speed to choose the right return warehouse.
