With a brick and mortor store, you have an almost empty van going to/from your house and the store (in addition to the logistics of keeping the retail store sto

With a brick and mortor store, you have an almost empty van going to/from your house and the store (in addition to the logistics of keeping the retail store stocked). If you factor in what the consumer spends on transportation, you will find that delivery is far more efficient, even with returns. The big waste with returns comes from the fact that retailers can't trust them nearly as much. With in store shopping, no one is suspicious about about taking clothes left in a changing room and putting them back on the rack. With returns, you run into all of the issues talked about in the article.