Returning online orders to their sellers has always been complicated, and while it typically costs nothing for consumers, retailers bear the brunt of the return costs, leaving them with little choice but to get rid of large swaths of inventory at a loss. This is an inevitable downside of the online sales boom. Part of the difference is due to the fact that customers can’t see an item in person before proceeding to checkout, which makes online shopping a leap of faith. Amazon has concocted a solution that it hopes will cut down on return rates and save everyone money.
Amazon has apparently started showing a warning label on products that are frequently returned, according toThe Information(viaThe Verge). The items that have been flagged appear to be all sold by third-party vendors and fulfilled by the e-commerce giant.
“We’re currently showing return rate information on some product detail pages to help our customers make more informed purchase decisions,” Amazon spokesperson Betsy Harden told The Information.
The latest move appears to be part of Amazon’s larger effort to reduce waste. In 2021, the companydrew flakfor destroying millions of unsold items at its UK warehouses. Amazon later pledged to significantly reduce product disposal through a program that allows third-party vendors toresell returned products as used items.
Areport from the National Retail Federationestimated that product returns amounted to a record $761 billion in 2021. While there are a bunch of companies that try to solve this problem for retailers, the sad truth is that these high return rates of online shopping are largely due to thelax return policies of retailers like Amazon, all in the name of gaining bigger market share in a highly competitive industry.
Amazon hopes the new warning label will deter customers from buying products they might later regret and force sellers to be transparent with their listings. For consumers,it’s easy to cancel an Amazon order or itemat an early stage before the product is shipped, saving retailers time and money.
Beyond flagging products, retailers would also be wise to understand why buyers return items in the first place and tackle this issue at once if they want to keep tons of unwanted products out of landfills.
