Returns are one of the least glamorous conversations in e-commerce.

Yet for enterprise fashion brands, they are one of the most consequential.

Retailers do not want returns back. What they want is for customers to keep what they love and for everything else never to hit the system at all. Because once a return enters the loop, the economics get complicated.

Across most markets, roughly 1 in 5 online purchases is returned. In apparel, that figure moves closer to 1 in 3. Processing those returns can cost up to 30 percent of the item’s original price once you factor in reverse shipping, labour, inspection, repackaging and potential markdowns.

For any brand that is not Amazon, “free and endless” returns are not a growth strategy. They are a margin liability.

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The Real Cost of the Traditional Returns Model

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Most returns strategies are reactive.

Brands focus on improving policy language, automating portals or negotiating better reverse logistics rates. These efforts matter, but they address the symptom rather than the source.

The root issue is decision timing.

In a traditional e-commerce flow, the purchase decision happens at checkout. The emotional decision happens later, at home. When those two moments are misaligned, returns increase.

Customers over-order to hedge risk. They delay decisions. They send back items weeks later. Inventory sits in limbo. Distribution centres experience unpredictable spikes. Core sizes go out of stock while returned units wait to be processed.

The longer the loop, the higher the cost.

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Redesigning the Order at the Source

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From a Mirra lens, the unlock is not a slightly better returns policy. It is restructuring the order architecture so the return loop becomes smaller, faster and cleaner.

Instead of asking customers to commit fully at checkout, Try at Home moves the decision into a defined trial period. Customers receive items, try them with their own wardrobe and complete their decision quickly.

Across apparel partners, we typically see:

• 6 to 9 days from fulfilment to product back in sellable condition, compared to 20 plus days in traditional flows
• 90 percent of customers making their keep or return decision within 36 hours
• Return rates often in the 8 to 14 percent range across apparel categories

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At enterprise scale, those shifts compound.

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The Operational and Financial Impact

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A faster, more structured decision cycle quietly improves core business metrics:

• Sell-through speed increases as inventory re-enters stock sooner
• Key styles and sizes become available faster
• Markdown exposure reduces as full-price conversion strengthens
• Distribution centre flow becomes more predictable

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Returns move from being a chaotic cost centre to a controlled, measurable loop.

And for the customer, the experience feels simple and human. Try pieces at home. Keep what feels right. Pay only for what you love.

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Sustainability and Profitability Start at the Source

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Enterprise brands are rightly focused on sustainability and profitability. Yet returns often remain in the “too hard” basket.

If 2026 is the year e-commerce matures beyond efficiency-only thinking, then returns need to be redesigned at the source, not patched at the end.

Reducing friction at checkout is important. But reducing misaligned decisions is transformational.

Because in fashion e-commerce, growth is not just about selling more.

It is about creating decisions customers stand by.

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