The biggest polluters in returns: just 15% of customers are responsible for 60% of emissions

For many online retailers, free returns have been a powerful selling point for years. But it is precisely this flexibility that leads a small group of online shoppers to return products en masse. New research from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) shows that just 15% of consumers are responsible for nearly 60% of the CO₂ emissions associated with returns.

Order first, decide later

For the study, researchers analyzed the behavior of nearly 10,000 online shoppers across ten European countries. They looked not only at how many products consumers return, but also at their motivations and purchasing behavior. The group that returns items most frequently—the so-called “serial returners”—sends back more than half of their online purchases. On average, this amounts to 15 returns per year, compared to just two for other consumers.