eDesk, a leading customer support platform for e-commerce sellers, has today released new figures showing the significant operational pressure retailers experience after the buzz of the Christmas shopping season comes to an end.
While the holiday boom is profitable, it is often a double-edged sword, leading to a flood of returns and customer enquiries that stretch support teams and quietly chip away at profits. eDesk’s new data identifies this ‘Christmas returns hangover’ as a major threat to profitability — a challenge that is still underestimated by many retailers.
eDesk analysed millions of post-holiday customer interactions across thousands of e-commerce sellers to understand the real operational impact of the January returns period. A 45% increase in returns directly causes support teams to slow down, with the time taken to resolve an issue rising by 28%. This drop in service levels is more than just frustrating; it represents a hidden cost that erodes holiday earnings and risks losing loyal customers.
The central challenge for retailers is to turn this period of pressure into an opportunity to retain customers. New data from eDesk highlights the sheer scale of the post-holiday challenge, which many businesses still fail to fully appreciate.
Key findings from eDesk’s analysis of the peak period include:
• A 34% increase in support requests and a 45% rise in return requests after Christmas
• Average resolution times slowing by almost 30% during the busiest returns period
• Gift sets, clothing and electronics creating the greatest post-holiday operational strain
“The moment the holiday shopping rush ends, the real pressure starts. Our data shows a near 50% spike in return requests, which stretches support teams and quietly reduces the profit retailers worked hard to earn. Smart retailers are not reacting to this — they are preparing for it. Using returns data to predict demand, strengthen operations and set clear customer expectations is how retailers protect margins and retain customers,” said Gareth Cummings, CEO at eDesk.
The findings underline the importance of anticipating and managing the surge in return requests before it overwhelms support teams, with practical strategies needed to manage customer expectations during the peak returns period.
