Didn’t quite like what you got for Christmas? Well according to UPS, Jan 2 is the day that most people start returning those unwanted, or just not quite right gifts they received over the holiday period.
UPS is already predicting its seventh consecutive record-breaking “National Returns Day” on Jan 2, with consumers expected to offload 1.9 million return packages into the UPS network. That would be a 26 percent spike from last year’s peak return day.
“For retailers, a seamless returns process is essential to keeping and growing business,” said Kevin Warren, UPS’s chief marketing officer, in a statement. “We proudly offer businesses of all sizes – from global players to small and medium-sized merchants – the sophisticated returns services that today’s consumers demand.”
UPS expects the record numbers on Thursday because it’s the first workday of the new year.
The company also said many people buy online intending to return the product if they don’t like it.
But those figures and expectations are just for UPS; it doesn’t include what the US Postal Service or shipping competitors like FedEx (FDX) may have to contend with.
“This will mark a seventh consecutive record, illustrating how e-commerce continues transforming shopping patterns,” UPS said.
An active US labor market and economy have fueled record-setting, e-commerce holiday sales figures over the past several years.
And it would appear that 2019 was another record-setting shopping year for retailers. American retail sales rose 3.4 percent between November and Christmas Eve, compared to the prior year, MasterCard reported Thursday.
