No Need To Throw Away Unwanted Fashion With Returnado’s New Platform

Buying things is easy. But what happens to things you buy that you don’t want any more, those clothes in the back of the wardrobe that don't fit or the mistakes you never got round to selling online?

According to EU figures, Europeans consume an average of 26kg of clothes per person every year, with 11kg discarded per person annually. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that 75% of discarded textiles globally are doomed for landfill or incinerator.  What to do with unwanted fashion is a huge problem for the industry, with some items ending up in landfill and others incinerated.

Returnado has a solution. Its new returns platform, Returnado Rescue, makes it easy for consumers to return unwanted items, regardless of their age. Customers go online to the retailer, click and post back the items. In exchange, Returnado generates a gift card or voucher. The retailer receives the item and gives it a new lease of life - whether by recycling, remanufacturing or resale.

This week, the Swedish menswear brand ASKET launched its Revival plan using Returnado Rescue software, enabling customers to return garments after several months or even years.

ASKET, which doesn't do seasonal collections, has been using Returnado’s software for over a year to collate and collect returns. However, explains Jakob Dworsky, co-founder of ASKET, the company felt it was time to do more.

“Our philosophy has always been to create clothes that stand the test of time ensuring they are worn and used more, but six years in, we’ve heard some customers are done with their pieces. Returnado is helping us take responsibility for our garments at the end of their useful life.”

Tackling Fashion Waste

Although ASKET helped Returnado develop the programme, it’s available to all Returnado clients.

“Sustainability in e-commerce and fashion usually revolves around minimising shipping and the amount of returns,” explains Haider Abdo, CEO and Founder of Returnado. “But the most resource-demanding part is the actual production of the product. If the lifecycle of an item and the resources can be extended, the environmental impact will be greatly reduced.”

Launched in Stockholm in 2016, Returnado handles all aspects of the returns process for customers in over 70 countries. Retail clients pay a license fee for the cloud-based solutions, which range from business intelligence tools and dashboards to admin panels for customer services and warehouse-handling software. As well as saving retailers time, it also saves money because items are more likely to exchanged - over 25% of clients’ returns end up as exchanges rather than as refunds. Equally importantly, by co-ordinating collections and deliveries, Returnado helps to cut emissions on delivery.

With 20 or so clients including Helly Hansen, Musto and Henri Lloyd, and home furnishings company Royal Design, Abdo expects the rescue platform to be especially attractive to fashion brands. Not before time, industry critics would say.

“The fashion industry as a whole is looking for smart ways to reduce its carbon footprint and help consumers make more conscious decisions,” Abdo says.

He explains that retailers can then repair or make garments into new pieces for resale. Older or damaged items can either be recycled into yarn for new clothes or, as a last resort, as rags or material for other industries. Nothing, he emphasises, will go to landfill.

Why Returns matter

Returns are expensive for retailers. KPMG says that the process of returning an item to a retailer can cost up to twice as much as it does to deliver it. Before coronavirus, in 2019, IHL Group estimated retailers lose more than $600bn a year in sales returns worldwide. Online retailers are worst hit by returns; while around 8% of items are returned to stores, this jumps to around 25% for items bought online.

I was recently caught out after exceeding the two-week legal return period for a for a Harmoni desk stand. Beautifully carved in oak, it's just too big for my workspace. I missed the company’s two-week statutory return limit, but it got me thinking about whether longer return periods are more likely to eliminate waste.

Full marks then to Helly Hansen, the Norwegian clothing and sports manufacturer, which gives customers up to 90 days to return or exchange an item through Returnado.