People's Finance Review: "Oversized Tags to Prevent Returns" is a "Smart Move"

Recently, "oversized tags to prevent returns" became a hot topic, with many clothing brands making tags the size of an A4 paper. Merchants admitted that resorting to this measure was to cope with high return rates.

Public data shows that the return rate for women's apparel in e-commerce is as high as 50% to 60%, and for live-streamed sales, it can even exceed 80%. Many of these returns are not due to quality issues but rather consumers wearing the clothes for several days with the tags hidden and then returning them without reason—essentially "gaming the system." Therefore, merchants have made larger tags to prevent people from wearing the clothes without cutting them off.

Perhaps this is not a "last resort" but rather a "smart move" far better than platforms raising return thresholds.

The high return rate for women's apparel is actually determined by the e-commerce model. What is seen on the screen and what is worn often differ. As a result, many consumers place orders, receive the items, try them on, and then decide whether to return them. Returns, in effect, serve the same purpose as fitting rooms in physical stores.

It is precisely because of convenient return policies that many consumers dare to make purchases, even impulsive ones, with the mindset of "trying first and returning if unsatisfactory." When returns are less convenient, consumers hesitate to place orders. Thus, behind convenient returns lies a thriving market.

However, every coin has two sides, and "gaming the system" has emerged as a result. Besides the high return rates for women's apparel, cases of consumers returning performance costumes after use without removing the tags have also become increasingly common in recent years.

Merchants hope that after a sale, the barriers to returns are as high as possible. If returns are troublesome, consumers are less likely to proceed. This has led merchants to collectively call for higher return thresholds. Under this pressure, in April of this year, several e-commerce platforms announced stricter return policies, fully eliminating "refund-only" options. Requests for refunds without returns after delivery will now be handled at the discretion of the merchants.