Jay Group Unveils Ecommerce Returns Playbook to Turn Reverse Logistics Into a Margin Protector

ECommerce Returns: Taming The Margin-Eating Force Behind the Buy Button

Return Management In Ecommerce

Reverse Logistics With Jay Group

Statista: Clothing & Shoes Are the Most Returned Online Purchases

New guide shows ecommerce and omnichannel brands how to cut avoidable Ecommerce returns, fight fraud, and turn reverse logistics into a competitive advantage.

LANCASTER, PA, UNITED STATES, December 2, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Jay Group, an award-winning dual-coast third-party logistics (3PL) provider, has released a new guide, “ECommerce Returns: Taming the Margin-Eating Force Behind the Buy Button,” to help ecommerce and omnichannel brands stop returns from quietly eroding profits and turn reverse logistics into a strategic advantage.

Based on day-to-day experience across apparel, footwear, beauty, lifestyle, and other fast-growing categories, the article explains why returns are no longer a post–holiday nuisance but a year-round “margin-eating force.” In the U.S. alone, retail returns are projected to total about $890 billion in 2024, representing roughly 16.9% of sales, according to the National Retail Federation.

Online orders return at far higher rates than in-store purchases, with fashion categories seeing return rates that can reach 30–40% or more during peak periods.

“Most brands now accept that returns are built into the ecommerce journey,” said Scott Chamberlain, Director of Business Development at Jay Group. “The real question is whether you treat returns as a black box cost center or as a data-rich lever to protect margins, improve inventory health, and earn repeat purchases. That’s what this guide is designed to unpack.”

The piece outlines where returns really come from, why blended return rates hide important patterns, and how brands can segment by product, channel, cohort, and reason code to understand what is truly driving margin leakage. It then details what “good” looks like in practice: shopper-friendly but fraud-aware policies, integrated return portals and warehouse systems, clear inspection and grading standards, faster return-to-stock, and smarter disposition strategies that recover more value from each unit.
Jay Group

For footwear and accessories brand Nisolo, getting reverse logistics right has been a priority. “The Jay Group team was proactive. We could actually have strategic conversations instead of firefighting,” said Emily Olivieri, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain & Operations at Nisolo. “I’m at the 3PL often. The best ideas come from walking the floor together. We talk about returns as much as outbound shipping. It’s not an afterthought.”

The article also highlights how growing return volumes are expected to take a larger bite out of U.S. ecommerce revenue over the next few years, making structured reverse logistics a board-level topic rather than a back-office task. According to Statista Market Insights, nearly 9% of U.S. ecommerce revenue is forecast to be returned in 2025, rising to more than 12% by 2029.

“For fast-growing brands, returns are where operational reality meets customer expectation,” said Natalia Golenkova, Marketing Director at Jay Group. “You can’t talk about lifetime value, brand loyalty, or sustainable growth without talking about what happens after the buy button. Our goal with this content is to give operators, finance leaders, and marketers a common language and a practical playbook.”

Jay Group’s reverse logistics programs combine dual-coast, 7-day operations with standardized inspection workflows, fraud-aware processes, and item-level data capture. When brands integrate their return portals with Jay Group’s warehouse management systems, both sides gain real-time visibility into what is coming back, why, and how quickly it can be recovered into sellable inventory or routed into outlet, recommerce, or recycling channels.

“Returns don’t have to be a silent margin drain,” Chamberlain added. “When you design reverse logistics with the same care you put into outbound fulfillment, you get faster refunds for customers, cleaner inventory, better fraud control, and insights that feed back into merchandising and marketing decisions.”

About Jay Group
Jay Group is a family-owned, award-winning 3PL that provides omnichannel fulfillment, contract packaging, and reverse-logistics services for ecommerce and retail brands. With FDA-registered, ISO-certified, temperature-controlled facilities in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Reno, Nevada, Jay Group combines advanced technology and 7-day operations to deliver fast, accurate, and data-driven logistics solutions.

Natalia Golenkova
Jay Group
+1 717-285-6200
email us here
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.