Purpose: The aim of this article is presenting the CEP market from the perspective of the development of reverse logistics in e-commerce, which has recently played an important role both from the perspective of the customer and the companies. Design/methodology/approach: The article is based on the analysis of literature, results of secondary research and own research conducted in 2017, 2019 and 2021 among online shops and in 2021 among CEP companies. A survey of Polish e-commerce and courier companies using the CAWI technique was conducted to gather information on the behaviours, expectations and attitudes of e-customers towards making purchases and returning goods in order to identify challenges for the CEP market. Findings: As can be seen from the data analysis, the growth of the CEP industry during the Covid-19 pandemic is undeniable and is the result of the development of e-commerce and returns services. The average annual growth of courier services by 2025 in the Asia-Pacific area will be 10.8%, in America Sem. - 5.2%, in Europe - 5.1%, and in Poland - between 7-8%. The industry therefore has to deal with an increasing number of orders resulting from online shopping, new customer expectations related to security, or the reduction of direct contact. Research limitations/implications: The return policy in e-commerce is still a growing topic, which is the biggest challenge for both online stores and courier companies. The conducted research is a starting point for further analyzes regarding: e-customers' expectations regarding the level of service in the area of returns, cooperation between entities from the CEP industry and online stores, or the automation and support of reverse logistics processes in the CEP industry. Practical implications: The presented research results can serve as a source of knowledge for e-commerce entities as a foundation for building a competitive advantage on the market. For courier companies, they are the starting point for designing processes dedicated to handling return logistics for e-commerce. Originality/value: The covid-19 pandemic contributed to the acceleration of the development of the e-commerce market around the world faster than specialists had predicted. This situation forced the KEP industry to redefine the processes so as to adapt them to the new reality and respond to the growing requirements of the client. However, as the volume of online purchases increased, so did the volume of returns, which has always been a challenge for e-commerce. The conducted research showed through which activities the KEP industry redefined its role in the electronic trade. Keywords: CEP market, e-commerce, reverse logistics, Pandemic Covid-19. Category of the paper: Research paper.