The State of E-commerce Returns: A Strategic Shift in the DACH Region

As the e-commerce landscape in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (the DACH region) continues to mature, the management of reverse logistics has emerged as one of the most critical operational challenges for online retailers. According to the latest comprehensive study from the EHI Retail Institute, titled "Shipping, Packaging and Returns Management in E-commerce 2026," the industry is currently undergoing a pivotal transformation.

While the headline figures suggest a slight stabilization in return rates, the underlying data reveals a complex shift in strategy: retailers are moving away from treating returns as a mere cost burden and are instead pivoting toward sophisticated, data-driven root cause analysis and a renewed emphasis on customer-centric service models.

Main Facts: The 2026 Return Landscape

The EHI study, which surveyed 108 prominent online retailers operating within the DACH region, highlights that the "return epidemic" may be finding a new equilibrium. As of the summer of 2026, the majority of retailers—up to 66.7 percent—report that they have managed to keep their item-related return rates at or below 10 percent.

This represents a notable tightening of operational control. Furthermore, the proportion of retailers grappling with high return rates—defined as exceeding 20 percent—has seen a marginal decline, dropping to 23.6 percent from 25 percent in 2025.

However, the data is not universally positive. A counter-trend is emerging: the percentage of sellers reporting that their return rates are on an upward trajectory has actually increased, rising from 14.7 percent in 2025 to 18.7 percent in 2026. This indicates that while the "average" retailer is managing better, a segment of the market is facing increasing difficulty in curbing consumer behavior.

Chronology of Change: From Cost-Cutting to Optimization

To understand where the industry stands in 2026, one must look back at the trajectory of the last 24 months.

• 2025: The Year of Defensive Measures. In the preceding year, the focus for many DACH retailers was primarily defensive. Faced with inflationary pressures and rising logistics costs, many companies experimented with strict return policies, including charging for return shipping to discourage serial returners.
• Late 2025 to Early 2026: The Data Integration Phase. Retailers began investing heavily in advanced analytics software to track the "why" behind returns. By integrating CRM data with warehouse management systems, companies began identifying specific product defects or sizing inconsistencies that were previously obscured by aggregate data.
• Summer 2026: The Strategic Pivot. The current period marks a return to customer-centricity. With many retailers having successfully stabilized their core logistics, the focus has shifted back to using "free returns" as a competitive lever to win market share, albeit with a more cautious, data-informed approach to product quality.

Sector-Specific Trends: The Fashion and Electronics Divide

The EHI report provides a stark contrast between the fashion industry—historically plagued by high return rates—and the consumer electronics sector, which has seen a dramatic improvement.

The Fashion Conundrum

Fashion remains the outlier in the e-commerce world. Because of the inherent subjectivity of fit and style, returns are often viewed as a "cost of doing business." In 2026, a staggering 67.5 percent of fashion retailers reported return rates exceeding 20 percent, up from 65.3 percent the previous year.

Interestingly, the internal distribution of these returns has shifted. While the percentage of retailers suffering from extreme return rates (above 50 percent) has decreased, there has been an uptick in the number of retailers reporting rates in the 35 to 50 percent range. This suggests a "clustering" effect where mid-tier return rates are becoming the new industry norm for fashion.

Consumer Electronics: A Success Story

Conversely, the consumer electronics sector has achieved a significant milestone in efficiency. In 2026, 94.5 percent of sellers in this category reported return rates of 10 percent or less—a substantial leap from the 85.7 percent reported in 2025. Perhaps most impressively, the cohort of electronics retailers experiencing return rates above 20 percent has been effectively eradicated, falling from 4.8 percent to 0 percent. This improvement is largely attributed to better product descriptions, improved high-resolution imaging, and more robust technical support at the point of sale.

The Return of Free Returns: A Competitive Necessity

One of the most surprising findings of the 2026 study is the resurgence of free returns. Despite the inherent costs, 60.6 percent of retailers now cover the full cost of return shipping, a significant increase from 49.2 percent in 2025. Simultaneously, the number of retailers shifting the entirety of the cost onto the consumer has shrunk from 18 percent to just 10.6 percent.

Why this sudden change of heart? The data suggests that retailers are increasingly viewing shipping costs as a marketing expense rather than a logistics overhead.

Official Responses and Strategic Implications

Niklas Stanislawski, Logistics Project Manager at EHI, underscores the philosophical shift occurring in the boardroom. "Higher return rates are declining this year, leading to a slight shift towards lower values," Stanislawski explains. "Overall, the focus of returns management is shifting from a general cost issue to targeted root cause analysis and differentiated control."

The "Why" Behind the Costs

Retailers are now deeply concerned with the "why." The primary driver for this shift is the realization that customer loyalty is tied to the ease of the return process. The study found that 76.2 percent of respondents cite customer satisfaction and loyalty as the primary reason for absorbing shipping costs—a massive jump from the 54.5 percent recorded in 2025.

Furthermore, 64.3 percent of sellers acknowledged that free returns are a necessary competitive advantage to survive in a saturated market.

The Financial Burden

Despite the strategic benefits, the financial reality remains sobering. The EHI report breaks down the cost drivers as follows:

1. Return Shipping: The primary cost driver, cited by 70.6 percent of retailers.
2. Inspection and Refurbishment: Still a major factor, though its prominence has declined from 63.1 percent in 2025 to 52.9 percent in 2026, suggesting that better quality control is leading to fewer items requiring manual intervention.

In terms of pure monetary value, the cost per return varies widely:

• Up to 5 euros: 33 percent of sellers.
• 5 to 10 euros: Nearly 20 percent of sellers.
• 10 to 20 euros: 15 percent of sellers.
• Over 20 euros: Just under 6 percent.

Future Implications for the DACH Market

The 2026 findings present a roadmap for the future of European e-commerce. The "spray and pray" approach to returns—where companies simply hope for lower rates through restrictive policies—is dead. In its place, the winners of the coming years will be those who implement the following:

1. Differentiated Control: Rather than applying a blanket policy, retailers are beginning to use predictive AI to identify high-risk shoppers or problematic product lines, allowing them to tailor the return experience on a case-by-case basis.
2. Product Data Enrichment: As seen in the electronics sector, reducing returns at the source through better descriptions and sizing technology is far more effective than trying to manage the logistics of a return after it has already occurred.
3. Refurbishment as a Profit Center: With inspection costs falling, the next frontier is likely to be the integration of "re-commerce" platforms, where retailers sell returned items as "open box" or "refurbished" goods, thereby recouping a higher percentage of the original retail value.

As the DACH region leads the charge in this shift toward sophisticated returns management, the rest of the global e-commerce industry will be watching closely. The era of seeing returns as an unavoidable, chaotic drain on resources is ending; it is being replaced by an era where returns are a managed, strategic component of the customer experience. For retailers, the challenge remains clear: optimize the process, reduce the friction, and, above all, understand the root cause of every box that makes its way back to the warehouse.