Large U.S. retailers are sending a new message to some consumers who want to return goods: money back guaranteed, but no goods to return.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon, Walmart and other companies are using artificial intelligence to decide: whether it makes economic sense to process returns. For cheap or oversized items that incur high shipping costs, it’s often cheaper to return money and let the customer keep the item.
This relatively new approach to returns is expected to be more widely adopted as Amazon and some other retailers saw a surge in online shopping transactions during the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing these companies to reconsider how they handle returns.
“We’re getting so many inquiries about this issue that you’ll see this in the next few months,” said Amit Sharma, chief executive officer of Narvar Inc.
Lorie Anderson of Washington state tried to get a refund for Target cosmetics she bought online and batteries she purchased from Walmart. The retailers gave her a refund, but told her to keep the items.
“They were cheap and it didn’t make much financial sense to return them by mail,” said Ms. Anderson, 38. “It’s a hassle to box them up and take them to the post office or UPS.”
In some cases, retailers refund the original price of an item and let customers keep or donate the product, which can save the retailer money.
And for those items that are returned, Walmart says on its website that they don’t all go to waste. Walmart said, “Since December 2019, we have diverted more than 100,000 tons of returned merchandise and corporate assets through donations, product liquidations and numerous recycling programs. Through our various recycling programs this year, we have been able to produce approximately 1.9 million pounds of recycled plastic resin that will be reused to make more than 9.2 million products that will be sold in our stores.”
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