Impact of return fees on online shopping in the UK 2023

In the United Kingdom, nearly three in four online shoppers consider return fees to be a crucial factor in their shopping decisions. In 2023, 74 percent of online shoppers taking part in a survey stated that return fees would make them less likely to shop with a retailer. Return fees might be expensive for cross-border retailers based in the EU, as they now charge UK consumers higher shipping and return costs due to Brexit trade conditions.

Cross-border e-commerce in the UK

In the UK, cross-border e-commerce represents less than 20 percent of the entire B2C online market and has remained quite stable since 2019, except for 2020. Contrary to what geographical location might suggest, European countries have a minor role in the UK cross-border market, which is dominated by China and the United States, leaving Germany in the third place.

Chinese presence in the UK market

Chinese players do not just dominate cross-border e-commerce, they are key players in the UK online retail ecosystem. In 2023, Temu, Alibaba, and Aliexpress were among the five most downloaded marketplace apps in the UK In some cases, the retention rates equaled those of established and domestic retailers. Over eight in ten UK consumers would purchase again from fast-fashion e-commerce Shein, surpassing the share of loyal customers of ASOS and Zalando.