Retailers face 600,000 returned Cyber Monday orders

More than 600,000 orders made on Cyber Monday could need to be re-delivered, according to new research by business operations and supply chain management consultancy LCP Consulting.

Retailers will face approximately 30 million unwanted presents being returned by shoppers this Christmas worth an estimated 500,000 pounds, with the majority of these returns being made the first Thursday after Christmas, January 1, which LCP has nicknamed ‘Boomerang Thursday’.

This flood of returns will also put additional demands on retailers during their busiest online sales week of the year, the consultancy claims. Additionally, it predicts that next day deliveries will become even more prominent this festive season compared to 2013, as retailers have moved their last order dates further from Christmas.

Phil Streatfield, retail partner at LCP Consulting, said: “Based on these predictions, there will be over 0.5 billion pounds of refunds this Christmas - creating more pressure than ever for retailers to be slicker in managing their refund process.

“This will be a critical factor for future success, and become part of a new and increasingly complex battleground for differentiation.”