Shopping disaster: UK consumers waste £33.5 million on unwanted parcels each year!

Ecommerce is booming and showing no signs of slowing down. The e-commerce sector has seen accelerated changes during the pandemic with the value of online sales in the UK as of June 2021 standing at 2.14 billion British pounds¹. With the majority of companies offering free shipping and returns to improve sales, the incentive has become unsustainable.

With a population of more than 54 million², the average UK resident received two unwanted parcels per month! Fasthosts surveyed the nation to reveal the average amount Brits waste a year by not returning unnecessary items and to better see how digital e-commerce has been affected in recent years.

The UK wastes in total £33.5 million a year on unwanted parcels.

It’s never been easier to shop online and with the option of free returns customers tend not to think twice about purchasing. In fact, more than five in ten respondents agree that the ease of online shopping has fuelled their extensive online shopping!

Based on the research, the average Brit has two unwanted parcels each month and the average price of each parcel is £25.68 which results in £616.56 a year on unnecessary items! Also, two in five are guilty of being lured into buying items they don’t need.

Additionally, when it comes to returning their unwanted items to the post office over a quarter of Brits believe that it’s time-consuming! This is the main reason that encourages customers to keep their unwanted items and as a result, waste their money.

Please see the list below with the top 10 cities that waste the most not returning unwanted parcels:

Newcastle residents are the biggest spenders!

Based on the research shoppers in Newcastle spend more in online shopping than any other city in the UK. In fact, the average person in Newcastle has three unwanted parcels per month costing them £1,240.92 per year! This comes as no surprise as over seven in ten agree that their online shopping habits increased during lockdown.

Following second on the list with almost £800 spent on unnecessary parcels per year is Liverpool. More than half of Liverpool residents agree that they tend to spend more online than originally intended whereas almost one in six believe returning parcels is stressful! Londoners are also online shopping savvy with two in five admitting that they have been lured into buying items they don’t need.

Commenting on the research, Michelle Stark, sales and marketing director at Fasthosts says:

“It’s shocking to see the amount wasted each year on unwanted parcels, this is also bad news for the environment and consumers bank balance.

Our research showed that consumers’ shopping habits will be focused on online retailers with almost half preferring to shop online rather than in person. Consumers’ expectations for online shopping have only increased, and free returns do not seem to be going away any time soon. For that reason, e-retailers need to continually revisit ways to reduce this for example investing in technology to automate processes on their website or offer returns in stores rather than via post.”