Many retailers offer 'returnless refunds.' Just don't expect them to
talk much about it
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[November 05, 2024] By
HALELUYA HADERO
It’s one of the most under-publicized policies of some of the biggest
U.S. retailers: sometimes they give customers full refunds and let them
keep unwanted items too.
Returnless refunds are a tool that more retailers are using to keep
online shoppers happy and to reduce shipping fees, processing time and
other ballooning costs from returned products.
Companies such as Amazon, Walmart and Target have decided some items are
not worth the cost or hassle of getting back. Think a $20 T-shirt that
might cost $30 in shipping and handling to recover. There are also
single-use items, such as a package of plastic straws, that might be
difficult to resell or medicines that could be unsafe to market again.
Analysts say the companies offering returnless refunds do it somewhat
sporadically, typically reserving the option for low-cost objects or
ones with limited resale value. But some online shoppers said they've
also been allowed to keep more pricey products.
Dalya Harel, 48, received a return-free refund recently after ordering a
desk from Amazon that cost roughly $300. When the desk arrived, she
noticed it was missing some key pieces and would be impossible to put
together, Harel said. She couldn't request a replacement and have it
within a reasonable time for the office of her New York lice detection
removal service because the item was out of stock.
Harel, who routinely buys towels and other products from Amazon for her
business, said her team reached out to the company's customer service
line. She was pleasantly surprised to hear she would get a refund
without having to send back the desk.
“That’s one less headache to deal with,” Harel said. “It was really nice
for us to not have to make an extra trip up to the post office.”
She used the desk pieces to create makeshift shelves in her office in
Brooklyn.
A mysterious process
While the retail practice of letting customers keep merchandise and get
their money back is not exactly a trade secret, the way it works is
shrouded in mystery. Companies are not keen to publicize the
circumstances in which they issue returnless refunds due to concerns
over the potential for return fraud.
Even if brands don't provide details about such policies on their
websites, returnless refunds are expanding in at least some retail
corners.
Amazon, which industry experts say has engaged in the practice for
years, announced in August that it would extend the option to the
third-party sellers who drive most of the sales on the e-commerce
giant's platform. Under the program, sellers who use the company’s
fulfillment services in the U.S. could choose to offer customers a
traditional refund for purchases under $75 along with no obligation to
return what they ordered.
Amazon did not immediately respond to questions about how the program
works. But publicly, it has pitched returnless refunds more directly to
international sellers and those who offer cheaper goods. Items sold in
an upcoming section of Amazon's website, which will allow U.S. shoppers
to buy low-cost goods shipped directly from China, will also be eligible
for returnless refunds, according to documents seen by The Associated
Press.
In January, Walmart gave a similar option to merchants who sell products
on its growing online marketplace, leaving it up to sellers to set price
limits and determine if or how they want to participate.
China-founded e-commerce companies Shein and Temu say they also offer
returnless refunds on a small number of orders, as does Target, the
online shopping site Overstock and pet products e-tailer Chewy, which
some customer said had encouraged them to donate unwanted items to local
animal shelters.
Wayfair, another online retailer cited by some customers as offering
returnless refunds, did not reply to a request for comment on its
policies.
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Shoppers hold bags after shopping in Bradenton, Fla., Feb. 9, 2024.
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar. File)
Deciding who is eligible - and
when
Overall, retailers and brands tend to be careful about how often
they let customers keep items for free. Many of them are deploying
algorithms to determine who should be given the option and who
should not.
To make the decision, the algorithms assess multiple factors,
including the extent to which a shopper should be trusted based on
prior purchasing – and returning – patterns, shipping costs and the
demand for the product in the customer’s hands, according to Sender
Shamiss, CEO of goTRG, a reverse logistics company that works with
retailers like Walmart.
Optoro, a company that helps streamline returns for Best Buy,
Staples and Gap Inc., has observed retailers assessing the lifetime
value of a customer and extending returnless refunds as a type of
unofficial, discreet loyalty benefit, according to CEO Amena Ali.
The king of online retail appeared to verify the process works that
way.
In a statement, Amazon said it offers returnless refunds on a “very
small number” of items as a “convenience to customers.”
The company also said it's hearing positive feedback from sellers
about its new program that authorized them to tell customers they
could keep some products and still be reimbursed. Amazon said it was
monitoring for signs of fraud and setting eligibility criteria for
sellers and customers. It didn't provide additional details on what
that encompassed.
Online shopping and the cost of returns
Some retailers also are stiffening the liberal return policies they
long employed to encourage online orders. Shoppers who enjoyed
making purchases on their computers or cellphones became accustomed
to loading up their digital shopping baskets with the intent of
returning items they ended up not liking.
Shopping online also grew significantly during the COVID-19
pandemic, when homebound consumers reduced their trips to stores and
relied on sites like Amazon for everyday items. Retail companies
have talked in recent years about returns becoming more expensive to
process due to the growing volume, rising inflation and labor costs.
Last year, U.S. consumers returned $743 billion worth of
merchandise, or 14.5% of the products they purchased - up from 10.6%
in 2020, according to the National Retail Federation. In 2019,
returned merchandise was valued at $309 billion, according to loss
prevention company Appriss Retail.
Last year, roughly 14% of returns were fraudulent, costing retailers
$101 billion in losses, according to a joint report from the
National Retail federation and Appriss Retail. The problem spans
from low-level forms of fraud - such as shoppers returning already
worn clothing - to more complicated schemes by fraudsters who return
shoplifted merchandise or items purchased on stolen credit cards.
To deter excessive returns, some retailers, including H&M, Zara and
J. Crew, started charging customers return fees in the past year.
Others have shortened their return windows. Some shopping sites,
such as the Canadian retailer Ssense, have threatened to kick
frequent returners off their platforms if they suspect abuse of
their policies.
However, retailers don't all view frequent returners in the same
way. Such customers could be seen as “good returners” if they
purchase – and keep – many more items than they send back, Ali said.
“Oftentimes, your most profitable customers tend to be high
returners,” she said.
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