The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
UPS on Wednesday announced that it bought reverse logistics start-up Happy Returns from its previous owner PayPal for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to close in the final quarter of the year.
Happy Returns, which helps online retailers offer customers box-free returns, will integrate its services with UPS, namely including UPS stores in its fleet of drop-off locations. Happy Returns was previously acquired by PayPal in June 2021 for an undisclosed sum.
UPS’s acquisition of Happy Returns comes as the cost of returns increases and more retailers invest in software firms for cost-effective solutions. UPS has made smaller moves into the returns ecosystem in years past. In 2016, the logistics giant bought a stake in returns management platform Optoro, which runs a self-service portal for customers to generate their own shipping labels and offers warehousing operations for brands.
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Case Study | Fashion’s New Playbook for Online Returns
The e-commerce boom may have cooled but online returns rates remain high, and the costs of processing them are more expensive than ever. BoF unpacks how retailers can reduce the costs of returns and protect profit margins, while improving customers’ shopping experience to generate higher sales.
Designer brands including Gucci and Anya Hindmarch have been left millions of pounds out of pocket and some customers will not get refunds after the online fashion site collapsed owing more than £210m last month.
Antitrust enforcers said Tapestry’s acquisition of Capri would raise prices on handbags and accessories in the affordable luxury sector, harming consumers.
As a push to maximise sales of its popular Samba model starts to weigh on its desirability, the German sportswear giant is betting on other retro sneaker styles to tap surging demand for the 1980s ‘Terrace’ look. But fashion cycles come and go, cautions Andrea Felsted.
The rental platform saw its stock soar last week after predicting it would hit a key profitability metric this year. A new marketing push and more robust inventory are the key to unlocking elusive growth, CEO Jenn Hyman tells BoF.