UK Shoppers Push Back Against Strict Returns Rules and AI Fit Advice

Returns rules can shape where UK consumers shop: 52% have chosen one retailer over another because it offered a better returns policy, and 35% stopped shopping at a retailer after it tightened its rules in the past year. Blue Yonder’s 2026 Consumer Retail Returns Survey suggests that restricting returns may carry a customer cost, even in a market where shoppers return items less frequently than consumers in France or Germany.

The survey covered more than 5,000 consumers in the UK, US, Australia, France and Germany, including 1,001 UK respondents. It asked about shopping habits, returned purchases and reactions to changes in retailers’ returns rules. UK shoppers also reported low trust in AI recommendations for size and fit, and strong resistance to paying return fees.

Restrictions affect generations differently

Gen Z and Millennial shoppers were more likely than older consumers to have left a retailer after it tightened its returns rules. The share was 52% for Gen Z and 45% for Millennials, compared with 31% for Gen X and 19% for Baby Boomers. Return frequency may help explain the gap: 37% of Gen Z and Millennials said they return a purchase at least monthly, against 12% of Baby Boomers.

But when retailers directly tell customers they return too often and limit their returns, the response shifts. In that situation, 62% of Baby Boomers said they would stop shopping with the retailer entirely, compared with 39% of Gen Z. Across all UK shoppers, 89% said a restriction imposed because of frequent returns would make them shop less often or stop shopping at that retailer. That was the highest proportion among the five markets surveyed.

Despite that sensitivity to restrictions, UK consumers reported fewer returns than shoppers in the two other European markets surveyed. A quarter of UK respondents make a return at least monthly, compared with 48% in France and 46% in Germany. Returns were rejected for 14% of UK respondents in the past year; the figures were 32% in France and 30% in Germany.

Retailers are using tools such as AI to track return histories and identify frequent returners. UK respondents had mixed views of the practice: 36% considered it a fair way to control costs, while 19% said it would not affect their shopping. Another 22% described the tracking as invasive and said it would make them shop elsewhere.

Blue Yonder CEO Duncan Angove said retailers face a challenge in distinguishing shoppers who misuse returns from loyal customers who simply return often. He argued that systems able to tailor returns rules and process items quickly and cheaply could help retailers control costs while retaining customers.

AI product advice can lead to returns

AI recommendations are already influencing purchases, but the survey points to a gap between shoppers’ use of the tools and their confidence in the results. Nearly a quarter of UK respondents, 23%, had bought a product after receiving a recommendation from an AI tool or assistant, such as a consumer chatbot. Of those buyers, 41% had returned an AI-recommended purchase in the past year.

The leading reasons were a mismatch between the product and its description, reported by 37% of those returning an AI-recommended item, and incorrect size or fit, cited by 26%. Across all UK respondents, just 17% said they would trust AI to recommend the right size or fit, while 37% said they would not trust it at all. That distrust was the highest of the five surveyed markets.

AI-assisted shopping was more common among younger respondents. Some 42% of Millennials and 37% of Gen Z had bought a product following an AI recommendation, compared with 13% of Gen X and 5% of Baby Boomers. More than half of Gen Z respondents who shopped this way, 56%, had returned an AI-recommended item in the past year. Trust in AI size and fit advice also varied by age: 25% of Gen Z said they would trust it, compared with 6% of Baby Boomers.

Angove attributed the returns to gaps in product information available to AI tools. He said recommendations depend on the quality of the data behind them, and that a product that fails to match a shopper’s expectations is likely to be sent back. For retailers, the survey points to product descriptions and fit information as operational details that can affect return volumes when AI tools guide buying decisions.

Free returns remain the preferred option

Among UK shoppers, free return shipping was the most important feature of a returns process for 43%, followed by fast or instant refunds at 29%. A fee would deter many: 59% said they would not be willing to pay to return a product. Resistance rose with age, from 38% of Gen Z and 49% of Millennials to 69% of Gen X and 70% of Baby Boomers.

Some shoppers will accept an alternative to sending an item back. Nearly three in five UK respondents, 58%, said a retailer had told them to keep a product they wanted to return in the past year, up from 50% in 2025. Of those offered that option, 67% said it made them more likely to shop with the retailer again.

A keep-it refund may make financial sense when shipping and processing cost more than the item could recover through resale. The approach depends on retailers being able to identify cases where keeping the product is a practical choice. Other offers consumers said they would accept in exchange for not returning an item included a discount or partial refund (31%), store credit for a future purchase (30%) and a discount on a future purchase (27%). Another 31% would accept none of these offers.

Environmental concerns also shape what shoppers want to happen to unwanted goods. More than half of respondents, 56%, were concerned about returned products ending up in landfill. Among that group, 30% would prefer to resell the product themselves and 23% would donate it to charity. The findings leave retailers balancing return costs, customer retention and the handling of items that may not be suitable for resale.

Source: Blue Yonder. The original report appeared in Logistics Business.