Economic Daily: Addressing the Shortcomings in Cross border E-commerce Returns

Recently, cross-border e-commerce sellers have reported that over 5600 Halloween related products have been sold, of which over 1700 have been returned. However, due to the fact that the cost of returns often exceeds the selling price of the product itself, coupled with overseas warehouse rejection, complex customs clearance processes, and a lack of unified reverse logistics standards, a large number of returns are delayed for a long time. In recent years, the scale of cross-border e-commerce imports and exports in China has continued to climb, with a total value of 2.71 trillion yuan in 2024, maintaining a growth rate of over 9% for three consecutive years. Cracking the "return dilemma" under high growth and filling the gap in cross-border e-commerce return logistics is an important measure to reduce seller costs and improve consumer experience, and will also promote cross-border e-commerce to leap from rapid growth to high-quality development.
The introduction of a series of policies has alleviated the problem of difficult returns in cross-border e-commerce. For example, the "Cross border E-commerce Retail Export Cross Customs Return" regulatory model launched by the General Administration of Customs has broken geographical restrictions; The policy of "tax refund upon departure" for cross-border e-commerce export overseas warehouses has shortened the tax refund cycle from an average of 60 days to 24 hours, accelerating the return of enterprise funds. Shenzhen is piloting the "Cross border E-commerce Return Center Warehouse" to achieve "same day warehousing and next day shelving" of sellable return goods, with processing time reduced from 14 to 21 days to 3 to 5 days. Customs in Hangzhou, Ningbo and other places have promoted "consolidated return" and "single window" simplified declaration, reducing the return review time from 48 hours to 4 hours.
However, to smooth out cross-border return channels and turn "obstacles" into "smooth roads", several difficulties still need to be overcome, such as inadequate return logistics infrastructure, ineffective removal of compliance and environmental barriers, and the need to improve financial security and digital collaboration capabilities. We need to use systematic thinking to coordinate and implement policies, accelerate the transformation of cross-border e-commerce return logistics from "cost burden" to "value reconstruction", and promote the industry to achieve high-quality development.
Build a solid logistics foundation and smooth the return "artery". Incorporate the cross-border e-commerce return logistics system into the overall layout of the national modern logistics system construction, and comprehensively consider the functional positioning of return distribution hubs and overseas pre-processing nodes. Establish mutually recognized return facilitation rules with major trading partners to reduce customs clearance barriers. Encourage international logistics companies to deepen cooperation with overseas warehouse operators and promote the consolidation and return shipping model. Upgrade overseas warehouses to regional hubs with automation and refurbishment capabilities, reduce logistics costs through large-scale operations, and accelerate return inspection, repair, and resale. Support the promotion of the "Return Center Warehouse" mechanism in the Comprehensive Bonded Zone and Comprehensive Trial Zone, allowing returned goods to efficiently complete seamless integration of entry declaration, quality inspection, refurbishment, and relisting.
Deeply cultivate green compliance and create a circular ecology. Enterprises should benchmark international environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) standards and establish a sound sustainable management mechanism for returns throughout their entire lifecycle. Explore the dual track disposal path of "bonded maintenance+environmental recycling" to prevent illegal destruction. Using big data and artificial intelligence to optimize product description, size adaptation, and packaging design, reducing unnecessary returns from the source. Relying on blockchain and the Internet of Things to build a full chain information traceability system, ensuring that return processing is verifiable and auditable, and meets international environmental protection and information disclosure standards.
Ensure the market with services and dispel consumer concerns. Strengthen in-depth research on target market consumption preferences, return motives, etc., and combine user behavior data analysis to promote precise and localized product selection. Supporting insurance institutions to improve exclusive cross-border return services, effectively dispersing after-sales risks for small and medium-sized business entities through multi-party guarantee fees, providing them with one-stop solutions including risk protection, intelligent decision-making, and end of pipe disposal, and enhancing industry resilience. Integrating multilingual intelligent customer service, automated document generation, return path planning, and status tracking tools to achieve visualized return processes and convenient operations, effectively enhancing cross-border shopping experience, boosting consumer confidence, and promoting repurchase conversion.