Ecommerce Return and Repeat-Purchase Benchmarks in India by Category

How often do skincare, fashion and consumable buyers reorder?#

Consumable buyers come back most, because the product runs out: about a third of new food and beverage customers (33.5%) reorder within 90 days. Skincare, part of beauty and personal care, sits at 28.3%, and fashion at 18%. These benchmarks come from ProfitBox360 research, 2025 (client data and shopper surveys).

Across all categories, 27.5% of customers order again within 12 months.

The ranking follows how often people need the product. Food, supplements and skincare run out, so customers come back to refill. Fashion and footwear depend on new styles and a good first fit. Electronics, home products and jewellery last for years, so a low 90-day rate is normal there.

Measure repeat on first-time buyers#

Track each month's first-time buyers as one group, and count how many order again within 90 days:

90-day repeat rate = first-time customers who order again within 90 days ÷ all first-time customers in the group × 100

1. Group first-time customers by the month of their first order.
2. Match customers by phone number as well as email, so a guest checkout with a new email still counts as the same person.
3. Read the rate only once every customer in the group has had a full 90 days. For a January group, that means early May.
4. Compare each category you sell with its own benchmark, not with the all-category 12-month figure.

Shopify's Customer cohort analysis report groups customers by the date of their first order and shows their repeat purchases and retention rate. Use it as your starting point.

What three extra points of repeat are worth#

Price a repeat-rate lift in rupees before choosing retention tools.

Illustrative example: a skincare brand gains 1,000 new customers a month.

• Repeat order value: ₹900 (assumption)
• Each repeat buyer counts for one repeat order within 90 days (assumption)
• 90-day repeat rate: 28.3%, the beauty and personal care benchmark
• Target: 31.3%, three points higher (assumption)

At 28.3%, 283 customers buy again, worth 283 × ₹900 = ₹2,54,700 per monthly group.

At 31.3%, 313 customers buy again, worth 313 × ₹900 = ₹2,81,700.

The extra 30 repeat buyers add ₹27,000 per monthly group, or ₹3,24,000 a year across 12 monthly groups. None of those orders needs new acquisition spend.

How to lift repeat by category#

Match the tactic to how fast the product gets used up.

• Food, supplements and skincare: time a reorder reminder to when the pack is likely to run out, for example around day 25 of a 30-day supply. Offer a refill or larger pack on the second order. For skincare, send a how-to-use message a few days after delivery.
• Fashion and footwear: save the customer's size so the next order takes less effort. Send new arrivals in the styles they already bought.
• Electronics, home and jewellery: judge repeat over 12 months rather than 90 days. Sell accessories, refills and care products, and remind customers before gifting occasions such as Raksha Bandhan and Diwali.

Which categories get the most returns after delivery?#

Fashion and footwear get the most: nearly one in four delivered fashion orders comes back (23.8%), and about one in five footwear orders (21%). The all-category average is 14.5%.

The cost column uses ₹117.50 per return for reverse pickup and handling.

Size and fit cause 61.5% of fashion returns and 70% of footwear returns. In those categories, fix sizing on the product page first, with measurements for each product rather than one chart for the whole store.

Measure returns on delivered orders#

Divide returns by delivered orders, and keep them apart from RTO:

Return rate = orders returned after delivery ÷ delivered orders × 100

An RTO (return to origin) parcel never reached the customer. A return comes back after the customer received the product and asked for a refund or exchange. The causes and fixes differ, so report the two separately.

Read each month's rate only after that month's return window has closed. Otherwise late returns make recent months look better than they are.

COD orders get returned more often#

Split your return rate by payment method before comparing it with the 14.5% average. Delivered COD orders come back 17% of the time, against 11.5% for prepaid orders.

Per 1,000 delivered orders, that's 170 COD returns against 115 prepaid returns. The extra 55 returns cost ₹6,462.50 in reverse pickup and handling alone (55 × ₹117.50).

What a return costs#

Count three costs for every return: the reverse pickup, the forward shipment that earned nothing, and any stock you can't resell.

Illustrative example: a fashion store delivers 2,000 orders a month.

• Average order value: ₹1,200 (assumption)
• Product cost: 40% of order value, so ₹480 per order (assumption)
• Items not fit to resell are written off at product cost (assumption)
• Return rate: 23.8%, the fashion benchmark
• Reverse pickup and handling: ₹117.50 per return
• Forward shipping already paid: ₹61.50 per order
• Returned items fit to resell: 77.5%, so 22.5% are not

Returns: 2,000 × 23.8% = 476 a month, and 476 × ₹1,200 = ₹5,71,200 of sales refunded.

Cost per return = ₹117.50 reverse pickup + ₹61.50 forward shipping + 22.5% × ₹480 stock written off = ₹117.50 + ₹61.50 + ₹108 = ₹287

Monthly cost of returns: 476 × ₹287 = ₹1,36,612, on top of the refunds. That's 5.7% of the store's ₹24,00,000 delivered sales.

Cutting the return rate by three points, to 20.8%, removes 60 returns (2,000 × 3%). That saves 60 × ₹287 = ₹17,220 a month and keeps ₹72,000 of sales.

How to bring returns down#

Start with the reasons, then get returned stock moving again.

1. Record a reason for every return, and split the rate by category, product and payment method.
2. Inspect returned items and restock them quickly. About 77.5% of returned items are fit to resell, so every day they sit unchecked is stock you could be selling.
3. Show your return, refund and exchange terms, and the cost of return shipping, before the customer pays. India's Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 require businesses that sell their own stock online to give accurate information on these terms.

FAQ#

What return rate should a store selling several categories expect?#

A mixed store should expect a blend of its categories' benchmarks, weighted by delivered orders. Multiply each category's return rate by the orders you deliver in it, add the results, then divide by total delivered orders. Compare your actual rate with that blended figure rather than the 14.5% all-category average.

Why doesn't Shopify's returning customer rate match the 90-day repeat rate?#

Shopify measures a different group of customers. Its returning customer rate divides returning customers by everyone who ordered in the chosen period, including loyal buyers from earlier years. A 90-day repeat rate follows only first-time buyers from one month. Compare benchmarks with the cohort report's figures, not the dashboard rate.

Why is the 12-month repeat rate lower than some 90-day rates?#

The 27.5% 12-month figure is an average across all categories, while each 90-day figure covers a single category. Low-repeat categories such as electronics, jewellery and home products pull the average down. Within any one category, the 12-month rate is always at least as high as the 90-day rate for the same customers.

Must an Indian D2C brand accept returns?#

Yes, for faulty or misdescribed goods. India's Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 stop a business selling its own stock online from refusing to take back or refund goods that are defective, deficient, spurious, not as advertised or delivered late. Late delivery caused by force majeure is exempt. Other returns follow your published policy.

Is an exchange cheaper than a refund?#

Yes, an exchange usually costs less, because the brand keeps the sale. Its logistics cost about ₹179: ₹117.50 for the reverse pickup and ₹61.50 to ship the replacement. A refund costs the same ₹117.50 pickup and loses the order value as well. Offer an exchange first whenever the problem is size, colour or fit.

Can a brand send reorder reminders on WhatsApp?#

Yes, once the customer has opted in. Meta's WhatsApp Business rules say the opt-in must clearly show that the person is agreeing to messages and must name the business. Collect it at checkout, and give customers a simple way to stop promotional messages, as the same rules require.