Another aspect of shipping you’ll need to keep in mind during a busy season is returns, since research indicates 67% of ecommerce buyers will check your return policy before buying. When it comes to planning, you'll want to pay specific attention to return shipping costs.

There are three main ways you can handle the cost of return shipping labels:

• Your customer pays the cost of return shipping

• You pay the cost of return shipping

• A combination of the two
  

The right strategy for you will depend on your margins, as well as your expected return rate, but keep in mind that return rates can be high during gift-giving seasons. Whatever you decide, make sure that you communicate your return shipping information as clearly and prominently as you do your shipping rates—it’ll save you time and customer support effort if people do decide to initiate a return