Bracketing (Fashion Returns)

Bracketing is the consumer practice of ordering multiple variants of the same item — typically several sizes, but also colours or styles — with the intent to keep one and return the rest. Unlike Wardrobing, which involves using an item then returning it as unused (return fraud), bracketing is generally framed by sources as a non-fraudulent behaviour rooted in fit and sizing uncertainty, though it imposes large reverse-logistics and margin costs on apparel retailers (Landmark Global, 2025; ReadyCloud, 2026-04).

Definition and distinction from wardrobing

Landmark Global distinguishes bracketing — buying multiple versions of a product intending to return some, usually from genuine sizing uncertainty — from Wardrobing, which is buying with intent to use briefly then return and is increasingly treated as return abuse / first-party fraud (Landmark Global, 2025). The two overlap in fashion returns data and are often discussed together under "Serial Returners," but sources treat their intent as distinct.

A peer-reviewed study from the University of Liverpool ("The Billion-Pound Question in Fashion E-commerce: Investigating the Anatomy of Returns," ScienceDirect, December 2024) is the highest-quality independent source to examine bracketing and wardrobing as distinct behaviours empirically, using data from the UK's second-largest pure-play fashion retailer across womenswear, menswear, and childrenswear.

Scale and prevalence

ReadyCloud reports roughly 63% of online shoppers now bracket, framing it as a mainstream apparel-shopping habit rather than an edge case (ReadyCloud, 2026; vendor blog). Return rates for apparel sit well above the retail average: ReadyCloud cites ~30% average apparel return rates on Shopify in 2024 (up from ~20% in 2020), versus ~24% across retail overall (as-of 2026-04). In Europe the figure is reported higher still — over 50% of online fashion orders in Germany and the UK are returned per the IPC Cross-Border E-Commerce Shopper Survey 2025 as cited by Landmark (as-of 2025).

Loop Returns 2026 Retention Benchmarks (23.4 million returns, 4,000+ Shopify merchants, November 2024–October 2025): women's fashion DTC brands return rate 25–35%; nearly 12% of return value flagged as high risk; average fraudulent return value $120 ^[1].

The University of Liverpool study estimates UK fashion returns cost the industry ~£7 billion in 2022, contributing to ~750,000 tonnes of CO₂ from discarded apparel (ScienceDirect, December 2024).

Narvar reports holiday 2025 return volume rose ~11% against ~6% order volume growth, describing the shift as "provisional purchasing" — a structural normalisation of returns as a buying decision strategy (Narvar via PR Newswire, February 5, 2026; primary Narvar data, confirmed).

Why it's accelerating

ReadyCloud attributes bracketing primarily to a "confidence gap" rather than abuse: unclear sizing, incomplete product photos, and thin reviews push shoppers to order multiple variants as a safety net, concentrated in apparel, shoes, denim, shapewear, and occasionwear (ReadyCloud, 2026-04). eMarketer corroborates: 40% of online fashion returns stem directly from incorrect size selection, and consumers themselves report they would bracket less if sizing information were more accurate ^[2]. ReadyCloud reports ~56% of online shoppers cite inconsistent sizing as a primary reason for returns, and ~73% say easy returns influence where they buy (as-of 2026-04, vendor).

The Inside Pocket (Jul 2025) notes 71% of Gen Z bracket vs 67% millennials, 52% Gen X, 36% Boomers — a generational gradient consistent with higher online-native shopping and lower physical retail dependency (The Inside Pocket, survey of 2,000 UK households, July 2025).

Separately, ZigZag's Al Gerrie (via Retail Bulletin) argues social commerce is reshaping returns behaviour, with 39% of Gen Z considering it acceptable to wear an item once and return it, and TikTok Shop and Instagram driving more impulsive buying (as-of 2026-01-07) — a driver that blurs the line between bracketing and Wardrobing.

Narvar's 2026 framing of "provisional purchasing" — buying with higher likelihood of return as a deliberate decision strategy — positions bracketing not as an aberration but as a structurally embedded shopping behaviour (Narvar press release, February 2026).

Cost to retailers

ReadyCloud reports a single return costs ~$10–$20 per item once shipping, restocking, and value loss are counted, rising toward $10–$65 with labour and inspection (as-of 2026-04, vendor). At a market level, UK Serial Returners cost retailers £6.6bn in 2024 (ZigZag/Retail Bulletin, 2024 benchmark; as-of 2026-01-07). The University of Liverpool estimates UK fashion returns industry cost at ~£7bn in 2022 (peer-reviewed, December 2024).

US ecommerce return volume grew 21.2% in 2024 while sales grew only 8.1%; 13.7% of all retail returns were fraudulent in 2024, up from 10.4% in 2022 (eMarketer, 2026).

Sources also caution against treating bracketers purely as a cost: ReadyCloud frames them as frequently high-value customers who buy more often and spend more per order than average (ReadyCloud, 2026-04) — a tension that complicates blunt return-suppression tactics.

What retailers are doing about it

Return fees and policy tightening

This is the dominant reported response. ZigZag / Retail Economics UK Returns Benchmark 2025: 42% of UK retailers charge for returns (excluding delivery fees); 66% charge for at least one return type; young fashion sector: 80% charge fees; typical fees £1.99–£4.99 (as-of 2025). Loop Returns 2026: 65.2% of Shopify merchants now charge a return fee (average $9.04; as-of 2026).

No brand that introduced return fees between 2023 and 2026 has subsequently removed them (Ingrid Return Economics 2026).

ASOS (the most detailed public case study):

• October 2024: began charging UK shoppers £3.95 if they keep less than £40 of their order and had high return rates
• January 2026: introduced in-app return rate dashboard ("a credit score for shopping behaviour"). Tiers: below 70% return rate = free; 70%+ with less than £40 kept = £3.95 deduction; 80%+ = additional £3.95 restocking fee; ASOS Premier membership blocked for high returners; some accounts banned outright (TheIndustry.fashion; The Tab; NBC News — January 2026)
• Separately, ASOS's underlying return rate reportedly fell by approximately 150 basis points year-over-year (widely cited; original ASOS investor materials not directly fetched as-of 2026-09-09)

H&M raised its UK return fee to £2.95 per parcel from 3 February 2025 (previously non-members paid £1.99; members previously free) (Retail Gazette, January 2025).

PrettyLittleThing and Boohoo also now charge return fees (Ingrid / ZigZag, 2026).

Elsewhere, Landmark (as-of 2025) reports retailers: cutting return windows (e.g. 100→30 days), assigning AI-driven customer return "scores," and using security/return tags overlapping with Wardrobing detection.

AI-driven mitigation tactics

Emerging tactics reported by eMarketer (2026): (a) AI-generated detailed product descriptions to reduce size uncertainty; (b) flagging when a shopper places multiple sizes of the same item in cart and prompting size tool or live chat; (c) labelling frequently-returned products on PDPs; (d) tiered return fees rather than blanket bans.

Size & Fit Technology

Fit uncertainty is bracketing's stated root cause; Size & Fit Technology (virtual try-on, better photography, AI sizing) is the supply-side response. A CNBC report (April 5, 2026) positioned AI retail start-ups and VTO tech as tackling the "silent killers" of retail margins. Zara deployed a Try-on service in 43 markets with 7 million sessions since mid-December 2025 launch (aggregator sources; Inditex primary source not directly fetched — unverified).

[!unverified] All VTO return-reduction ROI claims (22–80%) in this harvest originate from vendor marketing or secondary aggregators without disclosed independent methodology. No peer-reviewed or auditor-verified VTO ROI study was surfaced. Treat all quantified VTO return-reduction claims as vendor-claimed pending independent replication.

Returnless Refunds ("keep-it" refunds) are also reported as scaling, particularly for low-value items where processing cost exceeds item value.

Consumer backlash and unintended consequences

Consumer sentiment (social media, consumer finance press — thinkmoney, The Tab, The Inside Pocket; January 2026) frames return fees as a structural penalty for a sizing problem retailers have not solved. The dominant argument: retailers engineered free-return expectations, trained consumers into bulk ordering, and are now transferring the cost back onto customers for behaviour they created.

A specific risk flagged by trade commentators: return fees may push mid-market consumers toward ultra-fast fashion platforms (e.g. Shein) rather than toward more mindful buying. Thinkmoney (January 2026): "If returns become stressful or expensive, people won't suddenly buy mindfully, they'll be more inclined to buy cheaper clothes they can afford to keep, even if they're not perfect. That's where ultra-fast fashion platforms like Shein quietly benefit." This unintended consequence is not yet quantified in any source.

Sustainability and reverse logistics

A peer-reviewed study (Long, Univ. of Southampton; Liu, Univ. of Manchester; Sustainable Futures, 2025), reported by texfash, found transport accounts for over 90% of emissions from US apparel returns, with bracketing-style ordering of multiple sizes/styles driving the reverse loop (as-of 2025-10-23). The study reports centralised return networks emitting 29,000+ tonnes CO₂/yr per retailer versus ~6,686 tonnes for a decentralised regional-hub model, that ~1 in 5 online garments is returned (≈2× the in-store rate), and ~10,000 tonnes of returned goods are landfilled annually — connecting bracketing directly to Reverse Logistics design choices.

EU regulatory response

The Revised Waste Framework Directive (entered into force 16 October 2025) introduces mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles and footwear across all EU Member States. EPR fees will be eco-modulated based on ESPR sustainability criteria, rewarding durability and recyclability. Member States have until ~April 2028 to establish schemes (EU Commission DG Environment, October 2025; official primary source).

From 2026: destruction of unsold clothes, shoes, and accessories is banned in the EU (ESPR implementation); large companies must report discarded items annually (European Parliament, primary EU legislative source).

Digital Product Passport (DPP) becomes mandatory for textiles 2026–2027, requiring verifiable data on composition, origin, certifications, and end-of-life (EU ESPR).

Direct link to bracketing: EPR eco-modulation and the unsold goods destruction ban create upstream pressure on brands to reduce return rates, since returned items that cannot be resold now carry higher disposal costs and mandatory reporting obligations. This regulatory context elevates the financial stakes of bracketing beyond the existing cost-per-return calculation.

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Bracketing	Ordering multiple sizes/colours/styles of one item intending to keep one and return the rest (ReadyCloud, 2026-04)
Serial returner	A customer with a persistently high return rate; the policy target of return fees (Retail Bulletin, 2026-01-07)
Confidence gap	ReadyCloud's framing of sizing/photo/review uncertainty as the root driver of bracketing (ReadyCloud, 2026-04)
Returns-rate system	Tiered charging tied to a customer's % of order value returned, e.g. ASOS January 2026
Provisional purchasing	Narvar's 2026 framing of buying with a high likelihood of return as a deliberate consumer decision strategy (Narvar, February 2026)
EPR eco-modulation	EU mechanism that sets EPR fees based on product sustainability criteria, penalising non-recyclable/non-durable goods (EU Commission, October 2025)

Benchmarks (as-of date noted)

• ~53–63% of online shoppers bracket; ~51% of Gen Z + Millennials per Loop / ~69% of UK Gen Z per survey (contested range; ReadyCloud, ZigZag, The Inside Pocket — see contradiction callout) (as-of 2025–2026)
• ~30% apparel return rate on Shopify 2024 vs ~24% retail average (ReadyCloud, as-of 2026-04)

• 50% of online fashion orders returned in Germany/UK (IPC 2025 via Landmark)

• Women's fashion DTC return rate 25–35% (Loop Returns 2026, Shopify-only, as-of 2026)
• ~$10–$20 (up to $65) cost per processed return (ReadyCloud, as-of 2026-04)
• £6.6bn UK serial-returner cost 2024; £7bn UK fashion returns industry cost 2022 (peer-reviewed) (ZigZag/Retail Bulletin; Liverpool/ScienceDirect)
• 65.2% of Shopify merchants now charge a return fee; average $9.04 (Loop Returns 2026, as-of 2026)
• 42% of top 100 UK retailers charge return fees (ZigZag/Retail Economics, as-of 2025)
• US ecommerce return volume +21.2% in 2024 vs +8.1% sales growth (eMarketer, as-of 2026)
• Holiday 2025: return volume +11% vs order volume +6% (Narvar, February 2026)

• 90% of US apparel-return emissions are transport (peer-reviewed, as-of 2025-10-23)

Gaps

• No independent ROI study for VTO / fit-tech return reduction — all quantified claims are vendor-sourced
• Direct Reddit thread URLs not gathered (Reddit MCP unavailable) — seller community and consumer-voice signal on detection tactics and return-policy gaming strategies remains a gap
• YouTube transcripts not fetched — videos identified but content not attributed to timestamps
• Loop Returns 2026 full vertical-level benchmark gated (email sign-up required)
• ZigZag 2025 full benchmark gated
• Ingrid Return Economics 2026 gated
• No McKinsey/Deloitte/Baymard independent report on bracketing surfaced; most stats remain vendor blogs or NRF/IPC second-hand citations
• Unintended consequence of fees → ultra-fast fashion platform migration not yet quantified in any source

References

1. Loop Returns, — **vendor, Shopify-only, gated**; as-of 2026 — www.loopreturns.com/reports/retention-benchmarks-2026
2. eMarketer, — 2026 — www.emarketer.com/content/how-retailers-mitigate-returns