Designing Your 2026 Logistics Network Around Returns

Retailers have spent years perfecting outbound delivery. Speed, choice and tracking have all improved. But in 2026, the real competitive advantage won’t come from how fast you ship an order out – it will come from how intelligently you bring one back.

Returns now sit at the centre of customer experience, cost control, sustainability, and supply-chain design. They affect loyalty, margins, working capital, fraud risk, and operational efficiency. Yet many retailers still treat returns as an afterthought, bolted onto the network rather than built into it.

2026 is the year that changes.

This is how forward-thinking brands are redesigning their logistics networks around returns – and how ZigZag can help.

Start with data, not depots

Most retailers know their return rate. Very few know their return reasons, return routes, cost-to-serve by method, refund speed by carrier or patterns of abuse vs loyal behaviour.

A modern returns network must be data-led from the first mile to the last decision.

Key datasets to map:

• Which SKUs drive the highest cost and CO₂ when returned
• Inland vs cross-border return flows and pinch points
• Customer groups with the highest “good” vs “bad” return behaviour
• Time-to-resell data for refurbished, resale and outlet channels
• Carrier performance by region and return method
• Declared reasons vs actual reasons (the two rarely match)

Retailers that model these inputs early gain clarity on where to place consolidation hubs, which carriers to use, and how to route each parcel to the most profitable outcome.

ZigZag’s analytics suite gives retailers the visibility needed to build networks around facts, not assumptions.

Route returns by value, not by habit

Legacy returns systems still send everything back to a single national warehouse. It’s simple – and expensive.

By 2026, returns are routed dynamically based on value, speed, and recovery potential.

For example:

• High-value items → send to a specialist inspection or grading hub
• Fast-moving SKUs → prioritise local refurbishment to get them back on sale quickly
• Low-value or bulky items → consolidate and liquidate to reduce two-way freight
• Cross-border orders → route to in-country hubs to avoid duties, taxes and courier surcharges
• Non-resellables → divert to recycling partners to minimise disposal costs

ZigZag enables this routing automatically through its global network of 200+ warehouses and 1,500+ carrier services across 170+ countries.

The goal: every return finds the best next home.

Build flexibility into carrier networks

Returns demand flexibility. Not every customer will print a label. Not every country accepts QR codes. Not every carrier performs equally in the return leg.

Ultimately customers value ease and flexibility. That means getting a convenient returns option that is local, familiar, and cost-effective. In fact, 89% of consumers indicated its important to have multiple convenient returns options available.

You can read more about why you should have multiple carriers on your network.

Retailers designing their 2026 network are:

• Offering a mix of locker, PUDO, home pickup, post office and label-free options.
• Using multiple carriers per market rather than being locked into one
• Switching carriers dynamically based on performance, cost and geography
• Using consolidation lanes to reduce international charges
• Prioritising carriers with greener fleets and transparent CO₂ data

ZigZag’s network is built for flexible returns-first routing, ensuring the outbound carrier no longer dictates the return method.

Treat return speed as a revenue driver

Fast refunds used to be a “nice to have”. In 2026 they are a competitive advantage.

Why?

Because the faster you refund, the quicker the customer re-spends.

And the quicker you inspect stock, the faster you can resell it at full value.

Our recent research found that retailers took 7.3 days to refund a customer on average. However, by the 6th day, most customers stated they were frustrated. A small, but significant majority are calling up customer services within 4 days.  

To refund quickly you require:

• Real-time tracking
• Faster processing at the first touchpoint
• Automated workflows for store credit and exchanges
• Localised testing and grading
• Clear customer communications throughout the journey

Retailers using ZigZag typically see significant improvements in refund speed, resulting in higher repurchase rates and stronger customer retention. For Lands’ End, we shaved multiple days off the refund for international return by grading in-country.

Plan for fraud and abuse before it hits the warehouse

In a high-return category like fashion, fraud isn’t occasional – it’s structural.

2026 networks need proactive controls, not reactive policies.

Serial returners are responsible for around a quarter of all returns despite representing just 8% of returners in 2025. We expect serial returners to climb again in 2026, now that the initial shock of ASOS’s, and other retailers, announcements they were banning serial returners.

That means:

• Identifying risky patterns early (serial returners, wear-and-return, cross-border arbitrage)
• Using rules engines that adjust policies dynamically by customer profile
• Reducing unnecessary refunds through smarter inspection flows
• Separating genuine, loyal customers from abusive behaviours

With ZigZag’s fraud signals and data-driven routing, retailers can protect margins without punishing good customers.

Make sustainability a built-in requirement, not a badge

Returns generate avoidable emissions and waste. Retailers will face increasing regulatory and consumer pressure to address both.

A 2026-ready network must:

• Reduce transport miles with in-country consolidation
• Offer paperless returns and eliminate unnecessary labels
• Route items to local refurbishment, repair or resale channels
• Use carriers with transparent carbon reporting
• Track CO₂ per return and report it as a standard KPI

ZigZag removed more than 38 million pieces of paper last year through label-free QR returns alone – a small example of how operational changes can deliver meaningful sustainability impact.

Whilst sustainability isn’t just a badge, it doesn’t mean you can’t signpost sustainable practices to consumers and educate them. Highlight the greener carriers, like electric vehicle fleets and methods that use a centralised collection centre, to show remind consumers of their eco-friendly options.

30% of consumers claimed they had no idea what returns options were even the greenest. So tell them.

Connect returns to the rest of the business

Returns intelligence shouldn’t sit in isolation.

It should feed:

• Merchandising (quality issues, fit, defects)
• Product teams (sizing and imagery improvements)
• CX (policy clarity and expectation-setting)
• Finance (margin erosion, credit cycles, working capital)
• ESG (waste reduction and CO₂ insights)
• Marketplace strategy (resale and refurbishment performance)

Returns are one of the richest sources of truth in retail.

The most successful brands in 2026 will be the ones who use that truth to shape the rest of the business.

The bottom line

2026 belongs to retailers that design returns in from the start.

Not an afterthought.

Not a cost centre.

Not a burden.

A well-designed returns network improves:

• Profitability
• Sustainability
• Customer loyalty
• Operational efficiency
• Global scalability

ZigZag’s platform, carrier network and analytics capabilities give retailers the infrastructure to build a returns-first logistics strategy – one that’s faster, greener and more profitable.

If outbound delivers the promise, returns protect the relationship.

In 2026, both matter equally.

If you want to talk to a returns and logistics expect, book a demo with one of our experts