Apparel returns data

How many online clothing purchases get returned?

Returns are a built-in cost of selling clothes online. The National Retail Federation and Happy Returns estimate total US retail returns at $849.9 billion in 2025, with an estimated 19.3% of online purchases sent back.

Clothing stands out within that. Statista ranks clothing and footwear as the most-returned online categories. The reason is simple: you can’t try anything on before it ships, so the fitting room moves to your bedroom — and whatever doesn’t work goes back.

Return rates differ by retailer, country, season and product mix. The figures here are the ones the cited reports publish; they are not a measurement of any single shop.

Why do people return clothes bought online?

Across reported breakdowns, the leading reasons cluster around fit and appearance. The table describes them qualitatively; it is not a ranking or exact shares.

McKinsey’s returns-management research identifies fit and size as the leading — and most addressable — driver of apparel returns. On appearance, eMarketer reports that 55% of shoppers have returned an item because it looked different on them than expected.

Both reasons come from the same gap: before buying, the shopper couldn’t picture the piece on their own body. Our guide Does it fit me? explains why the same size differs from brand to brand.

What is bracketing and why does it happen?

Bracketing means ordering several sizes or colours of the same piece on purpose, planning to keep one and send the rest back. It is a rational answer to uncertainty — if you can’t tell whether an M or an L will fit, ordering both is the safe bet — but it adds return volume on top of genuine fit misses.

Measuring yourself once and comparing against the brand’s chart reduces the need for it. See how to measure yourself and the clothing size converter.

What does a clothing return cost?

Each return carries return shipping, inspection, repackaging, and often a markdown or write-off when the item can’t be resold at full price. It also means extra transport of garments back and forth. For shoppers, the cost is time: printing labels, queueing at drop-off points and waiting for refunds.

Can seeing clothes on yourself reduce returns?

Because fit and appearance are central reasons, the most direct lever on the “looked different on me” returns is letting shoppers see the piece on themselves before they buy. Reports on deployed try-on and fit services point that way:

Adoption is growing: the Business of Fashion reports that Zalando plans to roll virtual try-on out to all customers in 2026.

These are reported outcomes from specific companies, not a guaranteed effect for any shop or shopper; much depends on the category and how try-on is offered. And seeing a piece on you addresses the look — it does not tell you which size to order. wearfits.me gives a visual preview, not a size guarantee, so pair it with the brand’s size chart.

How should these figures be read?

Each number on this page is linked to the report that published it. Where we describe patterns without a figure — the ordering of return reasons, the costs of a return — we describe them qualitatively on purpose, because return rates and reason breakdowns vary by retailer, region, season and product mix.

Some studies above cover AR or 3D product content rather than generated photos; they are included because they measure the same idea — showing the product in a richer way before purchase — not as evidence for any one tool. For how the approaches differ, see ways to preview clothes, compared.