Buy now, try later: online clothing sales boom raises qualms over returns

Returns have shot up as more fitted items – especially dresses – have come back into vogue, with shoppers more likely to buy two products to ensure purchases are suitable. Photograph: Islandstock/Alamy

“I bought and returned seven pairs of trainers during lockdown,” says Kate from Sussex. “I often order the same thing in two different sizes or two different colours and then return what I don’t like or what doesn’t fit. I never thought I would buy clothes online when the internet first started offering this, but I’m now very happy to.”

Kate is just one of millions of shoppers who, spurred on by the closure of physical stores during months of pandemic lockdowns, now regularly buys and returns goods online.