New Look has started charging customers £1.99 to return online orders as part of a new trial.
The new fee applies to postal returns. Shoppers can still return online orders to stores in person for free.
New Look told industry publication Retail Week the charge was to help “recover costs”.
A source from New Look said: “People are returning because they just don’t like the feel or look of it, so actually we’re never going to get that returns rate down really low.
“Therefore the offset is, by charging for return, we can keep our sales price lower and that is why we’ve introduced it.”
A New Look spokesperson told The Mirror: “New Look has taken the decision to trial a £1.99 fee for postal returns.
“This is in line with the wider industry, and reflects increased costs related to delivery and collection. Customers are still able to return their online orders to our stores free of charge.”
One New Look shopper, who'd seen the charge, asked New Look on Twitter : "Do you now charge £1.99 for returns via mail? Not sure what the charge is for as I'm literally printing my own label..."
Another asked: "In your invoices say that returns are FREE and simple but inPost, Collect+ and Royal Mail come up at £1.99 in your website when processing a return. Why is this?"
It comes after online shopping giant Boohoo started to charge customers to return items from July last year.
Boohoo customers pay £1.99 when returning an online order, with the cost deducted from their refund.
High Street firms such as Uniqlo, Next and Zara already charge for online returns. Next upped its fee from £2 to £2.50 last year.
The update from New Look comes after it was revealed the fashion retailer is closing a handful of stores across the UK.
The locations of the sites affected include Birmingham, Coventry, Trowbridge, Kirkcaldy, Walthamstow and Northampton.
New Look said the closures are part of its "normal course of business" as new sites will be opening also.
At the same time, New Look is expanding its partnership with second-hand clothing website Re-Fashion by launching six new in-store concessions across the UK.
From the end of January, New Look opened Re-Fashion concessions within its Coventry, Nottingham, Peterborough, Leicester, Loughborough and Wolverhampton stores.
The concessions offer consumers vintage and pre-loved clothing items ranging from designer to sportswear labels and vintage pieces.
As of March 2022, New Look said it had 440 stores in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
On its website, the retailer says it has over 10,000 team members.
New Look stores closing in January and February
- Birmingham, Fort Shopping Park - January 9
- Trowbridge - January 23
- Coventry - January 29
- Birmingham, Bullring - January 30
- Walthamstow, London - February 4
- Grosvenor Centre, Northampton - February 15
Kirkcaldy- early February
New Look spokesperson told Mirror Money: “As part of the normal course of business, New Look occasionally closes sites, but also opens new stores when the right opportunities arise.
"While a small number of stores have closed in recent months, our most recent new openings were in November 2022 and we have plans for further openings in the first half of this year.”
