Recently, fast fashion retailer H&M backtracked on a decision to charge its UK customers a small return fee on online purchases returned to its brick-and-mortar outlets. But the price of fashion is high, and recent trends like ‘try-and-return’ purchases have prompted several clothing brands to change their return policies. So, how do underlying supply chain factors like fuel and labor costs impact retail pricing and policies?

Travis Tokar, Ph.D., a Professor of Supply Chain Management at the Texas Christian University, offers insight into the ‘price of fashion’ that retailers like H&M navigate.

He explains, “I think that we could look at things like increased fuel and labor in the supply chain costs. That contributes to product as well being more expensive,” linking these elements to the decisions retailers make regarding customer policies.

Article written by MarketScale.