When enterprise brands talk about returns, the focus usually lands on reverse logistics, labour costs and markdown exposure.

But there is another cost quietly eroding margin.

Card fees on refunded orders.

The return that hurts most is not just the one that comes back to your warehouse. It is the one that charges you twice. First the refund. Then the payment processing fee.

At scale, that cost compounds quickly.
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Consider a fashion brand generating $70 million in annual online sales with a 15 percent return rate and an average card fee of 2 percent.

That equates to approximately $210,000 per year in card fees on revenue the brand does not ultimately keep.

No product retained. No incremental revenue. No improved customer experience. Just fees.
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Most ecommerce teams track return rates closely. Far fewer isolate the card processing cost associated specifically with refunded transactions.

Yet for enterprise operators focused on contribution margin, that line item deserves scrutiny.

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Why Traditional Returns Create Double Leakage
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In a standard ecommerce model, payment is captured at checkout. If an item is later returned, the brand issues a refund.

However, the original card processing fee is rarely refunded by the payment provider. The brand absorbs that cost.

This creates a structural inefficiency:

• Payment captured
• Item returned
• Revenue refunded
• Card fee retained by the processor
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Multiply that across thousands of transactions and the margin impact becomes material.

For businesses operating on tight gross margins, particularly in apparel, this leakage can quietly distort profitability.

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The Authorisation-Only Advantage
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Mirra addresses this inefficiency by redesigning how the transaction is structured.

Instead of capturing payment at checkout, Mirra places an authorisation hold on the customer’s card.

The flow is simple:

• Customer places a Try Before You Buy Mirra order
• An authorisation hold is applied
• The customer trials items at home
• Payment is captured only for items kept
• Authorisations for returned items are released

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Crucially, there is no captured transaction on the returned portion.

Which means:

• No refund required
• No card processing fee on returned items
• No double margin erosion
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Customers still experience full flexibility to try at home. But the brand’s unit economics improve significantly.

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Why This Matters at Enterprise Scale
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At scale, small percentage improvements drive significant financial outcomes.

Reducing card fee leakage on refunded revenue improves:

• Contribution margin
• Net revenue retention
• Operational efficiency
• Finance predictability
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And unlike promotional tactics, this margin improvement does not rely on discounting or traffic increases. It is a structural optimisation.

For finance leaders and ecommerce directors, this is not a theoretical benefit. It is measurable.
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If you already know your return rate, the next question is straightforward:

What did we spend in card fees on refunded orders last year?

The answer may be uncomfortable. But it also represents an opportunity.

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Redesigning Returns at the Source
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Mirra is often associated with higher AOV and improved conversion.

But equally powerful is its ability to improve the economics of the return loop.

By shifting from captured transactions to authorisation-only flows, brands reduce unnecessary financial leakage while maintaining a premium, flexible customer experience.
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In a market where margin protection is critical, structural improvements outperform tactical fixes.

Sometimes the most expensive return is not the item itself.

It is the transaction behind it.

And that is exactly what Mirra is built to optimise.

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