Gardening and home-related spending has been booming in the United States in recent years. According to an ECDB report, online gardening product sales in the United States will reach approximately $18.864 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 10%-15%. Globally, the global B2C e-commerce market for home and garden products reached $232.54 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow to $360 billion by 2033, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.9%. This demonstrates that online sales of gardening products are becoming a key growth driver for cross-border sellers.

However, despite this robust market growth, the return rate for gardening products should not be underestimated. According to statistics from Shopify and the National Research Foundation (NRF), the overall return rate for e-commerce platforms will be 16.9% in 2024. Specifically, the return rate for home and garden products typically ranges from 15% to 20%. This is primarily due to the large size and fragility of gardening products, as well as their dependence on the environment and size for their user experience. Factors such as outdoor placement, weather resistance of the material, and the availability of accessories can all lead to returns.

Challenges Cross-border Sellers Face in Handling Horticultural Product Returns

The size, weight, and fragility of horticultural products make cross-border reverse logistics costs high, lead times longer, and increase the risk of inventory overstock. Furthermore, if returned products are put on shelves without undergoing professional quality inspection, it can easily impact the user experience and even lead to negative reviews. How to quickly and securely process returns and restore sales is crucial for cross-border sellers to maintain operational quality.

How does U-Speed's US return warehouse provide strong support?

To help cross-border sellers address the challenges of horticultural product returns, U-Speed has established a highly efficient return warehouse network in the United States:

US East Coast (New Jersey) Return Warehouse: 7,250 square meters, with a daily processing capacity of over 20,000 items.

US West Coast (Los Angeles) Return Warehouse: Also 7,250 square meters, with a daily processing capacity of approximately 10,000 items.

Both warehouses are equipped with forklifts, light and heavy-duty racking, fire monitoring, 24-hour security, and CCTV to ensure the smooth and orderly processing of horticultural product returns.

Professional and standardized quality inspection and restocking processes

U-Speed provides the following refined services for gardening product returns:

Appearance and quality inspection: Checks whether the product is complete, clean, and has all accessories.

Cleaning and dust removal: Ensures the product is in shelf-ready condition.

Packaging maintenance and relabeling: Ensures it meets resale standards.

Quality inspection can be completed within 2 days, and logistics processing time is 3–5 days. This efficient process effectively shortens the return and resale cycle and minimizes losses.

U-Speed's service advantages: One-stop coverage

Dual-team collaboration: A Chinese management team coordinates business regulations, while a local Chinese team in the United States implements them. Together with professional customer service, this ensures an efficient and controllable process.

Diverse processing options: Supports restocking, drop shipping, domestic returns, or environmentally friendly destruction of gardening products, flexibly meeting diverse needs.

Cross-border logistics closed-loop capabilities: Connects front-end shipping, warehouse management, and return services, streamlining supply chain operations and allowing sellers to focus their resources on sales.

Effective returns processing helps cross-border sellers win market share

The US gardening e-commerce market holds promising prospects, but high return rates pose an operational bottleneck for sellers. U-Speed's US Return Warehouse, with its professional warehousing facilities, efficient processing procedures, and dedicated service team, provides cross-border sellers with a reliable solution for gardening product returns. This not only improves restocking efficiency but also helps sellers maintain stable operations and sustainable profitability.