The Problem
Returns aren’t just a cost —
they’re a
leak in your
balance sheet.
E-commerce brands are trapped in a cycle of lost revenue, rising
logistics costs, and overfilled warehouses. Your best-selling
inventory is stuck in a limbo loop, shipping back and forth before
it ever finds a permanent home.
Every return that sits in triage, lands in an outlet, or ends up
in landfill is
capital you’ll never see again. Altaria breaks
this cycle by intervening before the box leaves the warehouse, and
automating recovery if it has to come back.
Avg. Return Cost$21–46Per returned unit including logistics, processing &
repackagingHappy Returns / NRF, 2025
Fashion Return Rate30–40%Up to 70% in Q4 during peak sale periodsIndustry average
Items Ending in Landfill~25%Of all returned items never re-enter the retail supply
chainOptoro / EPA data
US Returns Value 2025$849.9B19.3% of all online sales returned this year
aloneNRF Returns Landscape, Oct 2025 — US data