Amazon has built its business around customer support, believing that every thing will work out if the corporate makes shopping easy and convenient. Example: their return policy allows customers to return hundreds of thousands of things they don’t desire free of charge.
But this return policy can also be insanely expensive. A record $761 billion value of products were returned to retailers in 2021, in response to data National Retail Federation.
Now Amazon wants its customers to think twice before returning products. The e-commerce giant has quietly implemented latest policycharging customers a $1 fee in the event that they return items to a UPS store as a substitute of Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh or Kohl’s closer to their address, in response to a report in information.
Amazon owns Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh, in addition to Kohl’s partners with the corporate.
Amazon also warns consumers against “he often got here backitems sold on their site. They recently introduced a badge that tells shoppers to examine product details and customer reviews for products with a better return rate of their product category.
Related: San Francisco Whole Foods closes to ‘keep staff secure’
Amazon cuts costs
The latest return fee is the newest in a series of cost-cutting measures implemented by Amazon. Last month, the corporate announced it might lay off 9,000 staff, following an earlier round of layoffs last 12 months by which greater than 18,000 staff received pink cards.
While Amazon’s return fees are surprising, they don’t seem to be unprecedented. Other retail chains recently dropped their free online returns policy, including Abercrombie & Fitch (which charges a $7 fee), American Eagle, Foot Locker, Urban Outfitters and Zara.
If there’s any excellent news about these latest returns policies, it’s that they’ve a positive impact on the environment. Returns lead to 16 million metric tons of carbon emissions and as much as 5.8 billion kilos of waste in U.S. landfills every year, in response to Opto.
Fewer returns means less waste – even when it costs you a buck.
