A survey has found that a fifth of stores have made their returns policy more stringent over the past year, with a further fifth planning to do so in the next 12 months to try to deter “serial returners”. A fifth of UK retailers have tightened their returns policies over the past year , with a further fifth planning to implement similar strategies within 12 months , according to a survey by Barclaycard . The trend is a backlash against ' serial returners ' , with some retailers purchasing items to return once before returning them for a second , while others intentionally over - order . The policy of free returns , which many retailers expect as standard , is hurting retailers ' business , but also has an environmental impact . Fashion retailer Gap reported average emissions of 3.8 kg per delivery , with total emissions reaching 236,720 mt last year .
A fifth of UK retailers have tightened their returns policies over the past year , with a further fifth planning to implement similar strategies within 12 months , according to a survey by Barclaycard . The trend is a backlash against ' serial returners ' , with some retailers purchasing items to return once before returning them for a second , while others intentionally over - order . The policy of free returns , which many retailers expect as standard , is hurting retailers ' business , but also has an environmental impact . Fashion retailer Gap reported average emissions of 3.8 kg per delivery , with total emissions reaching 236,720 mt last year .