Post-holiday returns and sales trends: Exclusive data from Loop
Vaishali Ravi
·January 23, 2025
We recently showcased our 4,000+ merchants’ holiday shopping sales data and returns data for the biggest day for returns, Boxing Day (December 26th). But how do holiday returns compare over a longer returns window? And what percent of holiday shopping takes place after Christmas, thanks to the gift card economy?
In this article, we’ve broken down the data for our merchants’ holiday returns period, all the way from December 26th through to January 12th, to analyze the sales and returns that take place during that time window. Although some merchants have even longer return windows for holiday purchases, we can get a good indicator of trends in post-holiday sales and return performance from viewing this extended time frame.
You’ll be able to understand benchmarks in sales and return rates across different regions and categories, and understand how your brand’s post-holiday sales and returns performance compares to other merchants in your space.
Ready to dive in? Let’s go.
Returns data by the numbers
First, let’s get an overview of all Loop merchants with returns across all three of our geographic regions, the US, the UK, and AUS/NZ. What was the total scale of their return volume over this period? And how much revenue were they able to retain through exchanges and upsells?
- Total Loop Merchants with returns: 3,626
- Submitted Return Volume: 1.65M
- Total value (USD) of returns: $224.2M
- Retained Revenue ($): $69.9M
- Average Return Value: $136
- Total Upsell Generated: $2.89M
Next, let’s get into year-over-year trends for merchants who’ve used Loop during previous holiday returns windows. Return volume has been consistently rising over the past two years—but so has retained revenue and upsell generated.
2024 vs same timeframe 2023
- # of Same-Shops: 2,580
- Submitted Return Volume: 1.39M (⬆️ 5.1%)
- Total Value of Returns ($): $193M (⬆️ 6.9%)
- Retained Revenue ($): $61.5M (⬆️ 7.2%)
- ARV ($): $139 (⬆️ 1.8%)
- Upsell Generated: $2.6M (⬆️ 19.7%)
2023 vs same timeframe 2022
- # of Same-Shops: 1,429
- Submitted Return Volume: 882.6K (⬆️ 13.1%)
- Total Value of Returns ($): $116.4M (⬆️ 13.8%)
- Retained Revenue ($): $41.4M (⬆️ 17.6%)
- ARV ($): $132 (⬇️ 0.6%)
- Upsell Generated: $1.6M (⬆️ 17.9%)
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See how Loop worksReturn data by region
Loop has by far the most merchants in the US—and, accordingly, the highest number of returns occur there. We also saw the highest average return value for US merchants, with an average $141 cost. But while the US generated the most total upsell revenue, the Australia/New Zealand merchants were most successful in retaining revenue: They saw an average of 46% in retained revenue, followed by 31.6% in the US and 11% in the UK.
And while a disproportionate number of returns took place on Boxing Day in the US, the other two regions have different peak return days: January 2nd in the UK, and January 6th in AUS/NZ.
Take a look at the rest of the data to learn more.
US merchants 🇺🇸
- Total Loop Merchants: 2,823
- Submitted Return Volume: 1.4M
- Total value of returns: $197M USD
- Retained Revenue ($): $62.4M USD
- Average Return Value: $141 USD
- Total Upsell Generated: $2.7M USD
- ⭐ Top Return Day: December 26 (143,726 returns)⭐
UK merchants 🇬🇧
- Total Loop Merchants: 123
- Submitted Return Volume: 79K
- Total value of returns: $10.125M USD
- Retained Revenue: $1.17M USD
- Average Return Value: $127.50
- Total Upsell Generated: $33,375
- ⭐ Top Return Day: January 2 (6,298 returns)⭐
AU/NZ merchants 🇦🇺
- Total Loop Merchants: 380
- Submitted Return Volume: 88.6K
- Total value of returns: $7.48M USD
- Retained Revenue ($): $3.46M USD
- Average Return Value: $84.32 USD
- Total Upsell Generated: $104.7K USD
- ⭐ Top Return Day: January 6 (7,051 returns)⭐
Post-holiday sales data (12/26 - 1/12/25)
While the post-holiday return rate may be high—don’t worry: the period’s sales numbers are still much higher. Just because the holiday shopping season is over doesn’t mean customers are taking the day off. Maybe a shopper received a gift card to spend cash with your brand, or they didn’t get an item from their wish list and decided to purchase it on their own. Whatever the case, our global post-holiday sales data shows upwards trends across order volume, total order value, and average order value for each of the past two years.
All merchant sales (globally)
- Total Loop Merchants: 4,183
- Total orders from Loop merchants: 16M
- Total value (USD) of orders: $1.83B
- Average Order Value: $114
2024 vs same period 2023
- # of Same-Shops: 3,385
- Shopify Order Volume: 14.1M (⬆ 6.3%)
- GMV ($): $1.62B (⬆ 7.4%)
- AOV ($): $115 (⬆ 1%)
2023 vs same period 2022
- # of Same-Shops: 2,496
- Shopify Order Volume: 6.9M (⬆ 12.8%)
- GMV ($): $802.7M (⬆ 15.6%)
- AOV ($): $117 (⬆ 2.4%)
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Schedule timeUS / UK / AUNZ
The data looks a little different broken down on a regional level: We saw same-shop YoY sales metrics increase in all three regions, with the exception of a 5.4% average order value decrease in AUS/NZ. We also found that while average order value was very similar in the US and the UK, the average order value for AUS/NZ was 24.2% lower than the US’ average order value, and gross merchandise value was largely flat (1.3%), compared to a 8% increase in the US and a 14% jump in the UK.
On the other hand, the AUS/NZ region had the highest YoY increase in order volume of each of the three regions.
US Merchants 🇺🇸
- Total Loop Merchants: 3,266
- Total orders: 13.6M
- Total value (USD) of orders: $1.6B
- Average Order Value: $117
UK Merchants 🇬🇧
- Total Loop Merchants: 149
- Total orders: 377K
- Total value (USD) of orders: $44.31M USD
- Average Order Value: $116.87 USD
AU/NZ Merchants 🇦🇺
- Total Loop Merchants: 429
- Total orders: 1.2M
- Total value (USD) of orders: $104.1M USD
- Average Order Value: $88.72 USD
Same Shop YoY (’23 - ‘24):
US Merchants 🇺🇸
- # of Same-Shops: 2,673
- Shopify Order Volume: 12.1M (⬆️ 5.6%)
- GMV ($USD): $1.4B (⬆️ 8%)
- AOV ($USD): $117 (⬆️ 2.3%)
UK Merchants 🇬🇧
- # of Same-Shops: 105
- Shopify Order Volume: 269K (⬆️ 1.4%)
- GMV (USD):$30.3M (⬆️ 14%)
- AOV (USD): $111.97 (⬆ 12.5%)
AU/NZ Merchants 🇦🇺
- # of Same-Shops: 337
- Shopify Order Volume: 884.5K (⬆️ 7.3%)
- GMV ($USD): $78.17M (⬆️ 1.3%)
- AOV ($USD): $88.72 (⬇️ 5.6%)
In the wake of the Black Friday-Cyber Monday peak shopping period, we’re seeing ecommerce merchants across all three regions rise to the challenge of delivering a superior experience for their shoppers, whether they’re returning items or making a purchase.
By using Loop’s suite of features, brands are able to optimize for higher revenue retention on returns, and even foster upsells to higher-value products to increase the transaction value in some cases. Using a returns operation platform gives you the ability to deliver a seamless customer experience every step of the way—helping you win over new shoppers, and transform returns into exchanges that will boost your customer loyalty rates.
Coming up, we’ll dig into some strategies that our top-performing merchants are using to enhance the customer experience and retain more revenue with Loop.
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With Loop, your brand can offer everything from refunds to direct exchanges to shopper incentives and more. Even better? These exchanges build your business.