ARC · FREE RESEARCH
Return and shipping policy clarity for AI agents
Can an AI shopping agent find a store's return and shipping policy, and is it in machine-readable structured data? Rates, sources and stated return windows by category, from ARC's free HTTP checks.
DATA AS OF 11 OCT 2026, 13:41 UTC · n = 3,309 STORES CHECKED · EVIDENCE: MEASURED (PLAIN HTTP) · LICENCE CC-BY-4.0
Across all 3,309 checked stores
- Return policy findable: 65% (1769 of 2721)
- Returns in structured data: 11% (298 of 2721)
- Return window stated (days): 21% (571 of 2721)
- Shipping policy findable: 61.2% (1666 of 2721)
- Shipping in structured data: 8.8% (240 of 2721)
Charts
MEASURED · DENOMINATOR: MEASURED POLICIES
Apparel54.6% n=238
Footwear69.3% n=228
Beauty70.8% n=253
Home63.3% n=281
Food & drink66.1% n=345
Supplements & wellness72.3% n=242
Outdoor68.3% n=227
Kids72.1% n=244
Pets61.3% n=217
Electronics & accessories45.7% n=197
Jewelry67.5% n=246
Under 10 checked stores (counts only): Other 1 of 3
MEASURED · DENOMINATOR: MEASURED POLICIES
Apparel12.2% n=238
Footwear12.7% n=228
Beauty11.1% n=253
Home12.1% n=281
Food & drink6.1% n=345
Supplements & wellness14.9% n=242
Outdoor10.1% n=227
Kids11.1% n=244
Pets9.2% n=217
Electronics & accessories10.2% n=197
Jewelry12.6% n=246
Under 10 checked stores (counts only): Other 0 of 3
MEASURED · DENOMINATOR: MEASURED POLICIES
Apparel14.7% n=238
Footwear23.7% n=228
Beauty24.5% n=253
Home20.3% n=281
Food & drink17.4% n=345
Supplements & wellness29.3% n=242
Outdoor20.7% n=227
Kids22.5% n=244
Pets18.9% n=217
Electronics & accessories16.2% n=197
Jewelry23.2% n=246
Under 10 checked stores (counts only): Other 0 of 3
MEASURED · DENOMINATOR: MEASURED POLICIES
Apparel10.5% n=238
Footwear9.2% n=228
Beauty9.1% n=253
Home9.3% n=281
Food & drink4.6% n=345
Supplements & wellness10.7% n=242
Outdoor7% n=227
Kids9.8% n=244
Pets9.7% n=217
Electronics & accessories9.6% n=197
Jewelry9.3% n=246
Under 10 checked stores (counts only): Other 0 of 3
By category
Each cell is percentage (count of n), where n is that metric's measured denominator in the group. Below 10 checked stores only counts are shown.
| Category | Stores checked | Return policy findable | Returns in structured data | Return window stated (days) | Shipping policy findable | Shipping in structured data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apparel | 301 | 54.6% (130 of 238) | 12.2% (29 of 238) | 14.7% (35 of 238) | 50.4% (120 of 238) | 10.5% (25 of 238) |
| Footwear | 284 | 69.3% (158 of 228) | 12.7% (29 of 228) | 23.7% (54 of 228) | 60.5% (138 of 228) | 9.2% (21 of 228) |
| Beauty | 305 | 70.8% (179 of 253) | 11.1% (28 of 253) | 24.5% (62 of 253) | 70.4% (178 of 253) | 9.1% (23 of 253) |
| Home | 350 | 63.3% (178 of 281) | 12.1% (34 of 281) | 20.3% (57 of 281) | 59.8% (168 of 281) | 9.3% (26 of 281) |
| Food & drink | 399 | 66.1% (228 of 345) | 6.1% (21 of 345) | 17.4% (60 of 345) | 66.1% (228 of 345) | 4.6% (16 of 345) |
| Supplements & wellness | 279 | 72.3% (175 of 242) | 14.9% (36 of 242) | 29.3% (71 of 242) | 67.8% (164 of 242) | 10.7% (26 of 242) |
| Outdoor | 279 | 68.3% (155 of 227) | 10.1% (23 of 227) | 20.7% (47 of 227) | 63.4% (144 of 227) | 7% (16 of 227) |
| Kids | 279 | 72.1% (176 of 244) | 11.1% (27 of 244) | 22.5% (55 of 244) | 69.7% (170 of 244) | 9.8% (24 of 244) |
| Pets | 260 | 61.3% (133 of 217) | 9.2% (20 of 217) | 18.9% (41 of 217) | 59.9% (130 of 217) | 9.7% (21 of 217) |
| Electronics & accessories | 289 | 45.7% (90 of 197) | 10.2% (20 of 197) | 16.2% (32 of 197) | 38.6% (76 of 197) | 9.6% (19 of 197) |
| Jewelry | 281 | 67.5% (166 of 246) | 12.6% (31 of 246) | 23.2% (57 of 246) | 60.6% (149 of 246) | 9.3% (23 of 246) |
| Other | 3 | 1 of 3 | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 | 1 of 3 | 0 of 3 |
Where agents find the return policy
n = 2,721 stores with measured policies. Structured data is the form an agent can read without guessing.
Returns
- Product structured data8.3% (225)
- Organization structured data2.7% (73)
- Policy page (linked)42.6% (1160)
- Homepage link only11.4% (311)
- Not found35% (952)
Shipping
- Product structured data8.2% (222)
- Organization structured data0.7% (18)
- Policy page (linked)40.4% (1098)
- Homepage link only12.1% (328)
- Not found38.8% (1055)
Stated return windows
n = 571 stores state a number of days; median 30 days. A stated window is not a verified policy term.
- Under 14 days2.8% (16)
- 14 to 29 days25.9% (148)
- 30 days57.3% (327)
- 31 to 60 days8.9% (51)
- 61 to 100 days3.3% (19)
- Over 100 days1.8% (10)
By market
| Market | Stores checked | Return policy findable | Returns in structured data | Return window stated (days) | Shipping policy findable | Shipping in structured data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1,272 | 72.7% (773 of 1064) | 11.7% (125 of 1064) | 22.7% (242 of 1064) | 69.3% (737 of 1064) | 8.7% (93 of 1064) |
| United Kingdom | 657 | 64.2% (346 of 539) | 10.2% (55 of 539) | 20.4% (110 of 539) | 63.1% (340 of 539) | 9.5% (51 of 539) |
| Ireland | 138 | 66.1% (78 of 118) | 2.5% (3 of 118) | 22.9% (27 of 118) | 70.3% (83 of 118) | 5.1% (6 of 118) |
| Rest of Europe | 725 | 44.4% (250 of 563) | 12.1% (68 of 563) | 13.9% (78 of 563) | 36.6% (206 of 563) | 8.9% (50 of 563) |
| Canada | 188 | 71.4% (110 of 154) | 10.4% (16 of 154) | 22.7% (35 of 154) | 61.7% (95 of 154) | 9.7% (15 of 154) |
| Australia | 305 | 76% (199 of 262) | 11.5% (30 of 262) | 28.2% (74 of 262) | 72.9% (191 of 262) | 9.2% (24 of 262) |
| Other | 21 | 66.7% (12 of 18) | 5.6% (1 of 18) | 27.8% (5 of 18) | 72.2% (13 of 18) | 5.6% (1 of 18) |
| Not labelled | 3 | 1 of 3 | 0 of 3 | 0 of 3 | 1 of 3 | 0 of 3 |
By commerce platform
Platform measured for 2,714 of 3,309 checked stores.
| Platform | Stores checked | Return policy findable | Returns in structured data | Return window stated (days) | Shipping policy findable | Shipping in structured data |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | 1,558 | 90% (1400 of 1556) | 13.6% (212 of 1556) | 31.9% (496 of 1556) | 83.4% (1298 of 1556) | 10.1% (157 of 1556) |
| Salesforce Commerce Cloud | 152 | 36.8% (56 of 152) | 11.8% (18 of 152) | 9.9% (15 of 152) | 31.6% (48 of 152) | 11.8% (18 of 152) |
| Adobe Commerce / Magento | 58 | 46.6% (27 of 58) | 8.6% (5 of 58) | 8.6% (5 of 58) | 60.3% (35 of 58) | 17.2% (10 of 58) |
| WooCommerce | 51 | 27.5% (14 of 51) | 3.9% (2 of 51) | 3.9% (2 of 51) | 25.5% (13 of 51) | 3.9% (2 of 51) |
| BigCommerce | 43 | 41.9% (18 of 43) | 4.7% (2 of 43) | 4.7% (2 of 43) | 48.8% (21 of 43) | 2.3% (1 of 43) |
| PrestaShop | 12 | 8.3% (1 of 12) | 8.3% (1 of 12) | 8.3% (1 of 12) | 8.3% (1 of 12) | 8.3% (1 of 12) |
| Squarespace | 4 | 1 of 4 | 0 of 4 | 0 of 4 | 0 of 4 | 0 of 4 |
| Lightspeed | 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 1 |
| Wix | 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 1 | 0 of 1 |
| Not detected | 834 | 30% (249 of 831) | 7% (58 of 831) | 6% (50 of 831) | 29.5% (245 of 831) | 6.1% (51 of 831) |
Method
- Sample: ARC's curated directory, Index stores and accepted submissions (the same host set as the adoption tracker, Protocol Matrix and dataset). It is not all of e-commerce; read rates as describing this sample.
- Each store is counted once, from its latest completed plain-HTTP check (policies and product data from its latest attempt). Every metric has its own measured denominator (n); unavailable, blocked and legacy rows are excluded, never counted as 'no'.
- Groups with fewer than 10 checked stores show counts but no percentage.
- Platform comes from homepage fingerprints (headers and HTML). Not detected includes headless and custom stores. Stores whose homepage was blocked, or checked before platform detection, are unmeasured for platform and left out of the platform table (the coverage line gives the count).
- Market is ARC's curated label: the storefront's country (country-code domain or country subdomain), otherwise where the brand is based. EU means the rest of Europe; the UK and Ireland are separate. Index stores outside the directory carry the same curated label; submitted stores use their country-code domain, else Not labelled.
- Policy findings come from the store's pages and structured data. Presence does not verify the policy terms. A stated return window is the number of days found in structured data or the policy page.
- WebMCP is measured only on checks after 18:00 UTC on 6 Oct 2026, when detection began.
- Pages are generated from live saved checks and refresh hourly. Each page shows its data-as-of time; cite it with that date, or cite an immutable dataset version from /data/versions.json for exact bytes.
Full method: /methodology · Changes: method changelog · Generated 11 Oct 2026, 13:58 UTC.
Cite this (CC-BY 4.0)
Free to reuse with attribution: ARC, arcreport.ai.
ARC (2026). Return and shipping policy clarity for AI agents. Data as of 11 Oct 2026. https://www.arcreport.ai/insights/return-and-shipping-policy-clarity
@misc{arc_return_and_shipping_policy_clarity_20261011,
author = {{ARC}},
title = {Return and shipping policy clarity for AI agents},
year = {2026},
note = {Data as of 11 Oct 2026. Licence CC-BY-4.0},
url = {https://www.arcreport.ai/insights/return-and-shipping-policy-clarity}
}More research: Agent readiness by commerce platform · Agent readiness by market · Agent readiness by store category