For many of us, online shopping is more convenient than going to the store. You can try everything on at home, you often have a larger selection than in the store, the light is more flattering and you can simply send back anything that doesn't fit or you don't like - right? What actually happens to the returned packages?
The good news is: the majority of these goods end up on sale in Germany (79%). The rest is sold to industrial buyers, donated, sold as B-goods or unfortunately scrapped. The bad news: The latter affects “only” 4% of returns; however, with around 280 million parcels in Germany, there are at least 11 million parcels (!) that are destroyed every year. The reason for scrapping is that the goods are unsuitable for resale or that processing them is not economically worthwhile for the company. In addition, fast fashion loses value very quickly over time.
New collection, new luck
Fast fashion gets its name from the frequent and rapid change of collections: the range is changed up to 24 times a year. For the company, the goods therefore lose value particularly quickly. Because as soon as the next collection is in the stores, the last collection is much less for sale. Every part that customers send back is worth less per se than it was when it was sent. In addition, handling returns is expensive. The goods must be thoroughly inspected, cleaned and/or repaired, repackaged and stored. And this effort is unfortunately simply too expensive for many companies. The work, effort and resources that many people put into the production of the clothes are simply forgotten. In addition to the social aspect, the destruction of returns is also an ecological catastrophe.
Be nice to each other - and our environment
As a fair fashion start-up, we at Coco Malou want to do better and take a stand against it. We don't have any classic collections that change several times a year. Returns are just as valuable to us as any other piece. We think that you have to treat things that are dear to you that way. And that is also reflected, for example, in our handling of returns, because we would never dispose of our Coco Malous! We subject every part that does not fit to a detailed check. Any soiled goods are lovingly cleaned by us; We repair minor damage conscientiously. Garments are steamed by us before sending, which has a disinfecting effect. We are proud that almost 100% of our returns come back to our shop. However, if something is returned with stains, we will need to ship that product back to our customers.
Of course, we also incur corresponding costs for each return. Not only is each individual item taken from the warehouse before dispatch, carefully checked, folded and lovingly packed in a plastic-free manner - every item of clothing that is returned must also be checked accordingly, stored and booked back again. In addition, the reasons for returns are carefully documented and evaluated by us in order to constantly improve. However, this also takes a lot of time and costs money. Therefore we ask you from the bottom of our hearts: only order what you really want to keep and not many, many parts to choose from. We are always happy to advise you if you have any questions about size or cut, because we want to work with you to ensure that less is wasted.
But what actually happens at Coco Malou with a visible repair, a flaw in the lace or a crooked seam? These supposedly imperfect parts come back to our shop because we give them a second chance – at a reduced price.
We've always said it and we keep saying it: care for your friends like the good friends they are. ♡
Sources:
https://www.fairbangt.de/column/was-passiert-mit-mode-retouren/
https://www.stores-shops.de/technology/ehi-studie-das-retouren-dilemma/
