As much as you may hate the hassle of returning unwanted items, it’s a sure bet retailers hate it more. After all, dealing with a return is rarely as simple as placing the item back on a store shelf. In the majority of cases, a return kicks off a long and complex journey that may include inspection, sorting, tracking, reshipping, and determining the final disposition of the item, to name just a few of the steps. All this, of course, creates extra work and additional costs.Adding to retailers’ pain, returns are only growing as e-commerce sales continue to surge. According to U.S. Census Bureau data published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, e-commerce retail sales as a percentage of total retail sales nearly doubled in the last decade, rising from 7.2% in the third quarter of 2015 to 16.4% in the third quarter of 2025. And items ordered online tend to come back more often than those bought in stores: In an October 2024 study, the National Retail Federation reported that retailers’ online return rates were, on average, 21% higher than their overall return rates.Then there’s the environmental cost. Sadly, a large number of returned items wind up in landfills. They are simply too complicated or expensive to process or repair to make it worth restoring them to inventory.That’s where Disney Petit and LiquiDonate come in. Petit is the founder and CEO of this sustainability-focused software company that matches excess inventory from retailers, brands, and businesses with nonprofits…
