UPS: Holiday season package returns to hit a record high

US shoppers spent more online during this year's holiday shopping season

(Reuters) - United Parcel Service Inc expects returned packages to hit a record high following this year's holiday shipping season, as consumers shopped more online, the package delivery company said on Thursday.

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UPS said it expects to process 1.9 million returns on Jan. 2, up 26% from a year earlier and a seventh-consecutive annual record.

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UPS UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC. 147.39 +0.77 +0.53%
MA MASTERCARD INC. 462.11 -0.39 -0.08%

"This process is a change from years past, when consumers would rush to physical retailers the day after Christmas and stand in long lines to make returns," UPS said in a statement.

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U.S. shoppers spent more online during this year's holiday shopping season, a report by Mastercard Inc showed on Wednesday, as e-commerce sales hit a record high.

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E-commerce sales rose 18.8% year-on-year and comprised 14.6% of total retail sales, according to Mastercard's data tracking retail sales from Nov. 1 through Christmas Eve.

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(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)