The Negative Impact of 'Haul Culture'

Have you ever scrolled through your favorite social media platform and stopped to watch someone unpack a shopping haul? These videos, where influencers or everyday shoppers showcase dozens of items they’ve bought, have become a major trend on social media. From budget-friendly Shein hauls to luxury splurges at designer stores, the trend celebrates shopping in bulk. 

But what happens after the influencer has stopped filming?

While haul culture can be fun to watch, it isn’t just about showcasing products—it’s also driving unsustainable shopping habits, skyrocketing return rates, and serious environmental damage. 

Want to know more about how this trend affects retailers, the environment, and even shoppers like you? Read on to find out:

• What haul culture is

• The challenges it creates for retailers

• The environmental toll of overconsumption and returns

• What both businesses and shoppers can do to break the cycle

At the end of this article, you’ll have a clear understanding of the hidden costs behind haul culture and practical ways to make smarter, more sustainable choices.

What is haul culture?

Haul culture is a social media trend where influencers showcase large shopping sprees, unboxing and reviewing items like clothing, makeup, or home goods. Originating on YouTube in 2006 through the beauty community, this trend gained widespread popularity around 2010. Today, platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube drive millions of views for these videos, turning shopping into entertainment.

Take the #sheinhaul, a common theme on TikTok. In these videos, influencers try on a large number of items purchased from the fast-fashion retailer, giving quick reviews of what they like or dislike. The appeal lies in the variety—viewers get to see what’s new, trendy, and affordable. For influencers, beyond having fun and gaining new items, these hauls drive engagement, attract sponsorships, and help build their brand.

However, the shopping cycle extends far beyond single videos as haul culture encourages influencers to constantly buy new items to keep their content fresh. Many of these purchases are made with the intention of showing them off for just one video or social post. While these massive hauls look impressive on camera, most influencers end up returning plenty of what they buy.

Returns and other retail challenges of haul culture

This flood of returns has created major problems for retailers across the industry. While statistics show that traditional brick-and-mortar stores see return rates around 10%, online shopping returns—driven largely by haul culture—have jumped to a staggering 30-40%. This dramatic increase is particularly noticeable in the fashion sector, where younger consumers like Gen Z have embraced a "buy now, decide later" mentality.

Many shoppers order multiple sizes or colors, knowing they'll return the ones that don't work. In the UK alone, "serial returners"—who frequently buy and return large quantities—account for approximately £7 billion in returns annually, making up about a quarter of all online returns. The broader impact is staggering: the National Retail Federation reports that total returns reached $743 billion in 2023, with online returns accounting for $247 billion of that amount.

Consider brands that have built their success on online sales. For every $1 billion in sales, retailers lose about $145 million to returns. These costs add up quickly: retailers must pay for shipping both ways, inspection, repackaging, and potential markdowns if items can't be resold at full price.

But returns aren't the only challenge retailers face in the age of haul culture. Here are two other major issues affecting their bottom line:

Operational strain

Beyond the financial impact, managing returns creates significant logistical challenges for retailers. Each returned item needs a dedicated team to handle inspection, repackaging, and quality control. Often, even slightly worn items can't be resold at full price, forcing retailers to either heavily discount them or send them to waste.

Small businesses feel this strain even more intensely. Data shows that about 18% of orders placed with small businesses end up being returned, and over a quarter of small business owners say managing these returns is a major challenge. Unlike major retailers with dedicated return centers, smaller shops must handle each return manually while juggling regular operations—a task that strains both their staff and limited resources.

The hidden cost of discounts

Managing returns has forced retailers to get creative with customer incentives. Many now offer store credit instead of full refunds, or discounts on future purchases when items are returned. While this strategy helps keep some revenue in play, it creates new challenges: retailers must balance the cost of these incentives against their regular prices, and sometimes end up selling products at lower margins just to avoid complete returns.

The environmental toll of haul culture

Beyond the financial toll on retailers lies an even greater cost: the environmental impact of haul culture's return cycle. Here’s how it happens:

Waste from returned goods

Most returned items never make it back to store shelves. The process of inspecting, repackaging, and restocking is often more expensive than the item's value, leading retailers to discard or destroy these returns instead. The scale of this waste is massive: according to Optoro, a logistics firm specializing in returns, 5 billion pounds of returned items end up in landfills annually, a number that jumped to 9.5 billion pounds in 2022. 

Fashion returns are particularly problematic. With return rates reaching up to 40% for clothing items, many garments end up discarded rather than resold. The process creates even more waste through packaging: online shopping produces nearly five times more packaging waste than traditional retail, with 91% of this plastic packaging ultimately reaching landfills.

Carbon emissions from shipping

The environmental impact doesn’t stop at waste. Each returned item makes a double journey—first to the customer, then back to the retailer—generating about 24 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, equivalent to what 5 million cars produce. The carbon cost of returns can be up to 30% higher than the initial delivery, largely due to inefficient reverse logistics and the need for additional processing.

Breaking the cycle: what retailers are doing

Thankfully, retailers are beginning to recognize the challenges haul culture brings and are implementing solutions to mitigate its effects.

Revised return policies

Major retailers are now taking action against excessive returns. Luxury stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus have started charging return fees ranging from $9 to $10, while fast-fashion giant Zara now charges $3.95 for online returns in the U.S. Online retailer ASOS has taken a targeted approach, charging fees only to customers with "frequently high return rates" who return items worth less than £40.

Leveraging technology

Innovative tools like virtual fitting rooms and AI-powered size recommendations are helping shoppers make better choices before buying. Companies like Zeekit offer technology that allows customers to see how clothes will fit or look, reducing the need for “just-in-case” purchases.

The impact is significant: retailers using these sizing tools report up to a 24% decrease in return rates.

Promoting sustainability

Many brands are shifting their focus from quantity to quality. Patagonia leads the retail industry's sustainable transformation with its "Worn Wear" program, which encourages customers to repair and reuse clothing instead of buying new. Stella McCartney and Reformation have followed suit, using recycled materials and providing transparency about each product's environmental impact.

Even newer brands like Allbirds and Pangaia are building their entire business models around sustainability, using materials like merino wool and innovative fabrics while maintaining strict commitments to carbon neutrality. This industrywide shift focuses on convincing shoppers to buy fewer, better-quality items that last longer—the opposite of haul culture's "buy and return" mentality.

How shoppers can help

While retailers bear much of the responsibility, shoppers also have a role to play in breaking the cycle of haul culture. Here are a few things you can do: 

• Wait before buying: Give yourself a few days before purchasing to avoid impulse buys driven by trends or social media.

• Try clothing swaps: Organize exchanges with friends instead of buying new items.

• One in, one out: Trade or donate something before buying new pieces.

• Check your closet: Before purchasing, consider if the item truly fits your existing wardrobe.

• Create mindful content: If you're on social media, showcase sustainable shopping practices rather than excessive hauls.

Every small change can add up, encouraging a shift toward more sustainable shopping habits.

Conclusion

Haul culture might be fun to watch, but its costs are too big to ignore. When millions of shoppers buy and return clothes just for social media content, it hurts stores, wastes resources, and damages the environment. While stores try to solve this with return fees and better sizing technology, real change only happens when people buy mindfully.

Therefore, as social media tempts you to buy more, remember that you face a simple choice: continue the wasteful cycle of haul culture, or become part of the solution by shopping with purpose and care. The thrill of unboxing dozens of new items might last a few minutes, but the damage to the planet lasts far longer. It's time to make shopping decisions based on what you need, not what looks good on your feeds. 

After all, the most sustainable purchase is the one you don't make just for likes and views, wouldn’t you agree?