Kolkata topped the ranking of cities in terms of orders returned to origin (RTO), when it comes to data from online shopping across various e-commerce platforms this festive season. The data has been inferred from logistics regulator ClickPost's data, which noticed the sharply higher rate of returns originating out of Kolkata, among the 3,00,000 return shipments analysed by it. The report also noted that nearly 90 percent of all orders that were returned during this season were placed with cash on delivery payment modes.

According to the data, Kolkata's rate of returns were almost 2.5x higher than Mumbai, which recorded the lowest number of returned orders. In terms of metro cities, while New Delhi ranked the second lowest in terms of returns, Hyderabad recorded the second highest return requests, ranking just below Kolkata. Interestingly, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi all registered on the list of cities placing the highest number of online orders, led by Delhi at the top. In terms of Tier II cities and beyond, Ahmedabad registered the highest number of orders placed, followed by Jaipur and Lucknow.

The prevalent cause of returned orders, from both cash on delivery and prepaid sales, appear to be the customer's refusal to accept orders. ClickPost's data states that 52 percent of all returned, cash on delivery orders occurred due to the customer's refusal to accept, while 29 percent of prepaid, returned orders were due to the same cause. When it comes to prepaid orders, the biggest cause of returns are said to be the courier service's failure to contact the customer.

ClickPost further notes that order return requests decrease by a sizeable 60 percent, when the courier service attempts a re-delivery by informing the customer beforehand. With the festive season ongoing and sales prevailing across e-commerce platforms, it is interesting to note that cash order requests still play a significant role, even as prepaid online orders introduce more offers, and NBFCs continue to introduce more deals to rope in new buyers.