UK consumers remain “resistant” to retailers imposing stricter returns policies, with almost 9 in 10 British shoppers saying they would shop less often with a brand that limited returns options, new data from Blue Yonder has revealed.

Polling over 5,000 consumers across the UK, U.S., Australia, France and Germany, its study showed 35% of UK customers have stopped shopping at a retailer that implemented a stricter returns policy in the past year, while 52% have chosen one retailer over another purely because it offered a better policy for sending items back.

Gen Z (52%) and Millennials (45%) were more likely to have stopped shopping with a retailer after it tightened its policy, compared with Gen X (31%) and Baby Boomers (19%).

Despite reacting most strongly to return restrictions, UK consumers return products far less frequently than those in the other European markets surveyed.

Only 25% make a return at least once a month – roughly half the proportion in France (48%) and Germany (46%) – and just 14% had a return rejected during the past year, compared with 32% in France and 30% in Germany.

Retailers are adopting new tracking technologies, such as using AI to monitor return histories and flag frequent returners. 36% of UK respondents called this a fair way to control costs and 19% said it would not affect their shopping. However, 22% said it is invasive and would make them shop elsewhere.

“The instinct when returns go up is to tighten the rules,” said Duncan Angove, CEO of Blue Yonder. “But the data tells you how that ends. Flag shoppers as frequent returners and limit their returns, and nearly nine in 10 say they’d cut back or walk away.

“The challenge is telling the difference between a shopper who abuses returns and a loyal customer who simply returns a lot,” he continued. “That takes systems that can set the right policy for each customer and handle every return as quickly and cheaply as possible. Done right, returns stop being just a cost and instead start earning loyalty.”