Imagine your eCommerce team working around the clock to get those Valentine’s Day orders out. The time is near, the tension is palpable, and the gifts are flashy and unique. A smile comes to the face of brands as they start to imagine a fruitful period, one that can even cover up the losses of the entire year.
Then something happens. A customer has gotten the wrong kind of chocolate, or the lingerie is wrong-sized. A slew of orders gets canceled, causing brands to brush up their policy for Valentine’s Day returns in eCommerce, which drastically damages the bottom line.
Considering this year’s GRI is already high, causing shipping costs to reach new highs, whatever losses one can imagine often compound for many reasons.
In this guide, we reveal the real cost of returns, the reasons why Valentine’s Day has such high return rates, and how your brand can reduce returns.
Why Valentine’s Day Has One of the Highest Return Rates
Before we dive into the solutions for how to reduce Valentine’s gift returns, the first order of business is to understand why it happens.
Wrong Sizes
“Help! I have bought the wrong size of lingerie for my wife a couple of times.” This post by bardackx on r/LingerieAddiction highlights not the habit of husbands sizing their wives wrong, but the main issue for many returns on Valentine’s Day.
Duplicate Gifts
There are those who want to make their valentine feel more special, and the best way to do it is to stick to the “two gifts are better than one” philosophy. The downside of this style is that duplicate gifts are common. Such instances can damage the celebratory mood, turning a romantic evening into a somber one.
“Didn’t arrive in time” Refunds
Valentine’s Day is an auspicious period for couples. Everything has to be perfect, in order, to the point that pure romantic bliss can be obtained. Part of maintaining it is getting the gift at the right time. When such gifts arrive late, the moment is gone, which, according to customers, is grounds for refunds.
Last-minute Panic Purchases
According to the New Harris Poll by Doordash, Valentine’s Day encompasses recognition and romance for most customers. Many customers often take this to heart too late, leading to last-minute purchases.
The panic purchase is loaded with expectation, and since gifts are being bought at the 11th hour, they are bound to get it wrong. This also ends up triggering gift returns.
Emotional Buying Behaviour
All the above points can be encircled within “emotional buying behaviour.” Valentine’s Day, expectedly, is an emotionally charged day. The rush to express oneself often brushes logic aside, and the gifts selected aren’t often accepted. This triggers refunds. Although unfair, they happen commonly, since “I didn’t like it” seems to be another legitimate reason to ignore a gift.
Below is the snapshot of the return stats in Canada.
- 18.7% is the online apparel and fashion return rate in Canada
- 9.3% is the return rate for online beauty and wellness products
- Overall, brands should expect a return rate of 16.6% in Canada.
The Real Cost of a Valentine’s Return
Emotional turmoil leads to massive return rates, and these returns lead to financial damages for the brand. However, the eCommerce returns cost from these instances only emerges once a clear look is taken at an invoice.
For instance, take a Montreal skin care brand. If an item is around $85, and shipping to the customer costs $8, the total comes to around $93. However, if a return is triggered, the brand not only has to refund those $93, but also pay an additional amount, since return shipping could be around $9.
Now add the payment processing fee, which is 2.9% plus a fixed fee of around $3. Warehouse handling costs and restocking could be anywhere from $4 to $6, and the lost inventory value, if the product has been opened and becomes unsellable, is $20 to $35.
So, the return order now costs somewhere around $44 to $61. At this point, between 52% to 72% of the order value is lost, eliminating any profit on the sale.
At this point, the bottom line isn’t just reduced; it is obliterated, especially since, unlike tech-based products, there is no way to sell a refurbished cosmetic article.
Exchanges vs Refunds Which Protects Margin Better?
Given the stats of returns based on the previous section, and the fact that “free return shipping” is one of the decisions influencing customers to buy a product, it is time to ask the hard questions. Should a company offer an exchange or a refund?
Exchange keeps revenue
With an exchange, the original sale is preserved and no payment reversal fee is triggered. While exchanges still generate additional fulfillment costs such as pickup and outbound shipping, these costs only affect gross margin.
Compared to refunds, exchanges limit financial damage while keeping the customer relationship active.
Refund kills margin + CAC
A refund, however, could often be seen as the true enemy, since it reverses the revenue. It locks in outbound shipping costs, return shipping, warehouse handling, and payment processing fees, while delivering no lifetime value from the money spent to bring the customer in.
In the long term, however, the addition of returns does improve customer trust.
From the above two points, two ways emerge that could reduce the margin harm.
- Store Credit Strategy: Instead of refunding the customer in cash, give them store credit. It can stop immediate cash outflow by preventing reversal charges. Furthermore, it is a subtle way to enforce an exchange, but at a later date.
- Instant Exchange Automation: With Instant Exchange Automation, customers can apply for a replacement even before replacing the item. It could necessarily cut down the repackaging costs. And when exchanges are faster, the chances of customer retention going up are higher.
5 Ways to Reduce Valentine’s Returns
Although exchanges are more desirable than returns, having a customer not return a product is even more desirable. Here are the strategies to reduce Valentine’s returns.
Clear sizing guides (apparel/lingerie)
Getting the wrong-sized clothes for Valentine’s Day can be a nightmare for a consumer. The emotional impact of this could be high enough to obliterate a relationship.
A user named Throwa-68953 complained on Reddit that her husband bought her pants that made her look pregnant.
“I’ve been crying all day,” she said, expressing her disdain at her husband’s purchase, who, by her own admission, has been trying to buy her new clothes. “He doesn’t understand how offensive that is to me,” she continued.
A clear sizing guide on the eCommerce website could fix this issue quickly. It is only a matter of adding a size slider beside the product’s image, which customers should be required to select before making the purchase.
Delivery cut-off communication
Doordash has already revealed that much of the delivery orders during Valentine’s Day come at the 11th hour. Such orders are often made out of desperation and have a higher chance of triggering refunds.
While your eCommerce company cannot say no to these orders, there is a way to contain them: delivery cut-off communication.
Delivery cut-off communication is a logistics strategy to tell customers the latest date and time to place an order and the date they can expect guaranteed delivery. It tells customers a simple truth: Want to get the product on time? Order by the date mentioned.
Automated Address Validation
A user named Unlikely-Initial3066 wrote on r/Ebay trying to get info on how to get a refund since their product was delivered to the wrong address.
The solutions they got were too complex and involved a lot of back-and-forth between the seller and the customer. During Valentine’s Day, such a conversation often dims the mood if it does not go the way the customer wanted.
You don’t want that. That’s why your brand should prevent delivering to the wrong address from the very start.
Automated address validation is the best strategy to prevent delivery to wrong addresses. It checks addresses against postal records in real time to fix any mismatches. It adds missing components and fixes typos in the address section, increasing the likelihood of correct delivery and lowering the chance of “return to sender” scenarios.
Gift-friendly Checkout
Couples appreciate surprises in the gifts they receive on Valentine’s Day. They often don’t want to see the price tag and want the bells and whistles of cool gift wrapping that could make their day even better.
Since accounting for this emotional need is important, creating a gift-friendly checkout can prevent refunds. You can implement a “Gift” option during checkout, much like Amazon. Make sure to give multiple gift-wrap options, in customizable colors. It will preserve the mood of the day.
And to keep the gift-giving surprise alive, delay notifications to the recipient.
Proactive tracking notifications
Valentine’s Day is a time of high emotions, and with that comes high anxiety. If the buyer isn’t given the details of where the order is at any particular time, the ambiguity may push them toward a refund. Repeated assurances are, therefore, part of the strategy.
That is proactive tracking notification delivery. By letting the customer know the order status during key movements, from shipped to in transit to out for delivery, it eliminates the “Where is my order” anxiety loop.
And because all the information is readily available to customers, they are able to reframe the delay in their minds. They get a justified explanation for the delay, reducing cases of refunds while carrier performance stays the same.
Reverse Logistics Strategy for Canadian Brands
Despite implementing the best practices to reduce eCommerce returns, always expect some refunds to still happen. At this point, it is about minimizing the blow to profit and to the business by using a solid reverse logistics strategy:
Regional return hubs (Montreal / Toronto / Vancouver)
Canada is a large country, spanning an area of over 9.9 million square kilometers. Returns in this region are bound to be expensive. Regional return hubs are, therefore, key parts of reverse logistics in Canada.
East coast returns can be handled by Montreal. When it comes to centralized regions, Toronto is a suitable hub. For West Coast returns, you should set up the hub in Vancouver.
It reduces the average return expenses by a large degree. For one, it speeds up inspection to prevent delays. Secondly, it lowers carrier zone charges, and finally, it helps restock at a regional level.
Consolidated return pickups
Since returns during the Valentine’s period are to be expected, it won’t be feasible to handle all returns separately. This alone can drive the cost higher, since each parcel has to have its own pickup, scan, and handling charges.
The solution here takes the form of consolidated return pickups. Returns are dropped off at a partner location. From there, all the returned products are sent to the seller in larger shipments. The linehaul costs go down, and the predictability of returns happening on time goes up.
Reducing re-shipment costs
Reducing re-shipment costs is about prompting the customer to pivot away from returns and, if that is not possible, making it so that the next buyer of the same product is quickly available.
It prioritizes exchanges over refunds by restocking items at hubs closest to the next buyer, avoiding the return–reship loop.
Essentially, it transforms returns into “regional stock,” which can then be sold to nearby buyers. The outbound costs for the net order go down, doing two things. One, it shortens delivery times for new buyers, and two, it enhances customer experience for both returners and buyers.
Faster restock cycle
The more time spent on returns, the more money is lost. Therefore, another key reverse logistics strategy is a faster restock cycle.
It involves immediately scanning the returned product at regional hubs before grading its condition. If the condition is fine, then the old resell-liquidate strategy can be implemented through automated inventory reactivation.
This approach is especially critical to makeup products due to their limited shelf life. If it can be resold, resell it, but it has to be done fast. Storing the product for longer will deteriorate it, vaporizing the profits that could have been made from it.
Should You Change Your Valentine’s Return Policy?
Holiday returns in Canada are common. However, Valentine’s Day is often more special because of the inherent volatility of the parties involved. Therefore, whether or not you should change your Valentine’s return policy depends on what you seek.
Extended Exchanges
If you want to protect the bottom line to a large degree, go for extended exchanges but not refunds. An extended exchange is a strategy to make exchanges more flexible and appealing for customers.
One way to do this is through a point system. You can tell your customers that if they exchange a product, they will receive some points to avail discounts later, an option they won’t get if the product is refunded.
Store Credits
Offer store credits that can be used on other products at the same cost as the product.
Another way to implement store credit is by providing a discount. For instance, if the product turns out to be not desirable, you can add the option that, on the next purchase, the buyer who wanted to return the product would get a 10 to 20% discount.
Non-Refundable Clause
Returns often only happen if the seller has opened that option. On certain products, you can add a non-refundable clause. Take Etsy, for instance; it sports a specific section known as “No Refunds Gift.”
This section is popular, with multiple gifts getting even 5-star reviews. It shows that if you can curb refund expectations beforehand, there won’t be an issue.
Clear “Arrives Before Feb 14” logic
It is not enough to state that the product would arrive before February 14. The sentence is ambiguous and anxiety-inducing.
Put your customer’s mind at ease by providing them with an explicit date. You can also place specific guarantees on the delivery date if the location is suitable. Also, provide specific disclaimers to further give certainty to customers.
The rule is that the more precise information your customer has, the less likely they are to ask for a refund.
FAQs
Why are Valentine’s Day return rates higher than other retail periods?
Valentine’s Day is not a rational shopping event. It is emotional, time-sensitive, and loaded with expectation. Gifts are not bought to solve a problem but to express affection, which immediately raises the standard of “acceptable.”
When a gift misses that emotional mark, even slightly, it feels wrong. Wrong-sized apparel, duplicate gifts, late deliveries, or mismatched taste do not just disappoint the buyer; they invalidate the moment.
That emotional mismatch is why Valentine’s Day consistently produces higher return rates than most retail holidays. Logic takes a back seat, and refunds become a way to undo a moment that did not land as intended.
Which products are most likely to be returned after Valentine’s Day?
Apparel, lingerie, beauty, and wellness products dominate Valentine’s Day returns. These are intimate products, often bought by someone else, and heavily dependent on personal fit and preference.
Sizing errors in apparel and lingerie are common. Beauty products suffer from scent, texture, or ingredient expectations not aligning with reality. Chocolates and novelty gifts see returns when duplicates surface or when taste preferences are misjudged.
Do exchanges protect margins better than refunds during Valentine’s season?
Yes, and the difference is not subtle. An exchange preserves the original sale, avoids payment reversal fees, and keeps revenue intact. While it still incurs logistics costs, the damage is limited to gross margin rather than total revenue loss.
Refunds, on the other hand, reverse the entire transaction. Outbound shipping is sunk, return shipping is added, payment processing fees are triggered, and customer acquisition costs deliver zero lifetime value.
During Valentine’s Day, where returns are emotionally driven and frequent, exchanges act as damage control. Refunds act as margin erasers.
How do late deliveries impact Valentine’s Day refund requests?
Late deliveries do not feel late on Valentine’s Day. They feel pointless. The value of a Valentine’s gift is tied to timing. When the moment passes, the product loses emotional relevance, regardless of its quality. Customers rarely care about carrier explanations once February 14 is over.
This is why “didn’t arrive in time” refunds spike sharply during this period. The product is no longer a gift; it is a reminder of a missed moment. Without clear delivery cut-off communication, brands absorb the full cost of that disappointment.
What return policy changes reduce post-Valentine’s Day return volume?
Policies that manage expectations reduce returns more effectively than policies that react to them. Clear delivery guarantees, explicit “Arrives Before Feb 14” messaging, and visible cut-off dates prevent panic purchases from turning into refunds.
Extended exchanges, store credits, and gift-friendly checkout options keep customers within the ecosystem while reducing cash outflow. Non-refundable clauses on select gift items, when communicated upfront, also curb refund expectations.
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