More than 600,000 orders made today could need re-delivering after Christmas, new research shows.

Retailers will face a total of 30 million unwanted presents being returned by shoppers this Christmas worth an estimated £500,000, many of which will be ordered today, according to business operations and supply chain specialist LCP Consulting.

LCP said that with the ever-increasing volumes of online sales, retailers need to do more to keep pressure off home deliveries which can be a costly way of getting products to customers, particularly over Christmas when a high proportion of goods are returned.

LCP Consulting retail analyst Will Dawson said that retailers need to promote click-and-collect services more and tighten up their fulfilment systems in order to avoid wastage and limit the number of returns they need to make over Christmas.

He said: “Retailers need to prevent the problem in the first place; there is a need for them to develop their service propositions and give more options to shoppers. Customers want control and convenience; we’re seeing a growing trend of click-and-collect as part of this”.

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