Optoro Inc., the leading technology platform for retail returns, unveiled its latest offering: Home Pick-ups.

The age of easy clothing returns is coming to an end.A report Tuesday (June 20) by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) says nonreturnable items are becoming increasingly common.For example, secondhand clothing seller Poshmark has seen a 61% increase in items marked “new with tags” and featuring the words “final sale” in the description since last year. The term “final sale” means that even if a garment doesn’t fit, consumers can't return it.It’s a reality consumers are having difficulty dealing with.“It can create unnecessary friction and start annoying them,” said Sandrine Devillard, senior partner at McKinsey who oversees the firm’s North American apparel operations.The trend has left shoppers finding new ways to strategize their purchases, the WSJ notes. The report offers the example of a men’s clothing supervisor in Miami who shops final sales online and has garments altered as needed by his tailor.Chicago-based wardrobe stylist Katie Schuppler told the newspaper many of her clients don't realize they’d bought something on final sale until they tried to return it.“It comes up a lot when you’re panic-buying and not even paying attention,” she said.As noted here last week, many retailers are tightening their returns standards, a potentially risky bet, considering how much consumers like the ability to make easy returns.When it comes to online returns — defined here as a retailer providing free online returns using printable shipping labels — 33.4% of U.S. consumers consider the feature very or extremely important, according to recent PYMNTS research.“Given its popularity, it is not a stretch that the retailer pullback on returns to boost margins may come at the expense of customer loyalty,” PYMNTS wrote. “However, limiting returns is a risk some merchants are willing to make, given the cost incurred on their end to process them. In 2022 alone, an estimated 16.5% of all merchandise bought online was returned.”And while retail giants such as Amazon seem — so far — secure in charging some sort of fee for returns, other companies are exploring alternatives

As merchants begin to clamp down on returns, more brands are revisiting how they handle this inescapable aspect of eCommerce, with Gap the latest to announce it’s trying a new way. In a Tuesday (March 28) press release, returns technology provider Optoro announced that Gap has signed on to make the returns process a better experience for customers and brands. Including brands Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta, Gap is using Optoro to make the returns experience more intuitive through its online portal “for initiating returns quickly and easily, instant exchanges, fraud-protected customer keep, box-free, label-free drop-off locations, and more.”