Current Affairs

Online clothing sales: Italia leads the way on returns, whilst Germany brings up the rear

by Davide Madeddu

4 July 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Research
Returned items
Most frequently returned women’s products
Back, because I don’t like it
Change course

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

For every three items of clothing sold online, at least one is returned. And within Europe, where return rates reach as high as 50 per cent, Italia is one of the best-performing countries, with a rate of 15 per cent, whilst Germany comes bottom of the table.

The research

This scenario is outlined by the “Returns@Yocabe” research project, created by the Data Science team at Yocabe (a tech company that helps brands sell more effectively online) and by the Intelligent Information Mining research group at the University of Rome UnitelmaSapienza and Sapienza University of Rome. The initiative, coordinated by university lecturers Damiano Distante and Stefano Faralli, was launched with the aim of scientifically analysing, modelling and predicting the phenomenon of returns on the e-commerce channels on which the company operates.

Returned clothes

The research shows that women’s clothes are the ones most likely to be returned. Cost is a key factor affecting the return rate: the more luxury the item, the more often it is sent back to the sender.

Although the cost of returns is often invisible to the consumer, it does exist: for sellers, for buyers and for the environment.

From an economic perspective, the direct and indirect costs of returns place a significant burden on brands. The cost ranges from a minimum of 4 and can exceed 20 euros for premium-range products. “This means,” the research emphasises, “that the real cost of returns can account for 20–30 per cent of a company’s operating margin.” According to Vito Perrone, founder and CEO of Yocabe, “reducing the return rate by as little as 3–5 per cent has a direct impact on profitability, without the need for investment in new channels”. “In online fashion, returns are a structural part of the business model,” he adds. “The aim is not to reduce them to zero but to bring every market and every category up to its own benchmark of excellence, to measure performance continuously, and to turn every return into a learning opportunity.” In terms of returns by country, Germany tops the list with a rate of 59 per cent. Italia comes last with a return rate of 14.7 per cent. Almost all countries recorded a higher ‘return rate’ in 2025 than they did in 2022: from around 34 per cent to 42 per cent (+7.7 percentage points), with 9 out of 11 markets showing growth and only two experiencing a slight decline.

Most frequently returned women’s products

“The most frequently returned items are women’s clothes, whilst the least frequently returned are beauty products,” the study continues. “Generally speaking, the top three are all women’s clothing: after dresses, skirts come in second place and swimwear in third. Dresses and skirts are heavily dependent on fit, which varies considerably between brands, countries of origin and sizes.”

The analysis reveals a correlation between retail price and return rate: as the price rises, the return rate increases almost linearly because the product often fails to meet the buyer’s expectations. The data indicate that the €100 threshold marks a point of discontinuity: ‘above this level, every additional €20 in price adds around 3–4 percentage points to the return rate’.

Back because I don’t like it

Women return more items than men, with an average difference of 5–10 percentage points. Analysing the reasons for returns presents a significant challenge: 53.8 per cent of returns do not include any reason given. Of those returns where a reason is given, 27.1 per cent fall into the ‘dont_like’ category.

Changing course

According to the study’s initiators, an innovative approach is also needed for managing returns ‘in the world of research, where projects aimed at analysing and reducing returns have so far focused on user behaviour at the checkout’. “With our approach, however, we analyse the behaviour of products with their various characteristics across channels and countries, regardless of the specific user who added them to their basket,” concludes the CEO. This method is well-suited to all situations where the user is not yet known or where there is no large base of repeat customers, making it ideal for e-commerce and marketplaces, where the seller does not have access to customer information but can decide in advance whether or not it makes sense to sell a product based on the expected return rate and the costs of shipping and handling returns in that country.”