沃尔玛在周一宣布免费上门取货客户退货，从而提高了在线零售商的服务标准。
该程序称为“ Fedex的承运人提货”，该程序通过安排从商店安排一次家庭提货并打印该商品的退货标签，以最小的麻烦来退回在沃尔玛在线商店购买的商品。
如果您无法打印返回标签，则可以在Walmart应用程序中创建QR码。可以在任何FedEx办事处扫描该代码，这将为您处理退货。
沃尔玛还宣布将进行一些更改，以帮助加快店内退货。例如，无论商品的购买方式如何，它都允许在线启动退货流程，从而将商品带入商店后加快了流程。
它还可以解决收据丢失的问题。如果商品是使用付款卡在商店购买的，则可以在任何收银机处调用该交易。
该公司补充说，退款时间也得到了改善。对于许多在线退货，退款有时会在第二天就记入客户的付款帐户，对于商店内的退货会在同一天记入。
“假期足够紧张，”沃尔玛美国客户策略，科学与旅行副总裁Linne Fulcher在一份声明中说。“无论客户如何购买商品，我们都希望退货体验轻松，安全和无缝。”
她补充说：“我们为能够减轻客户的压力和那些多余的圣诞毛衣而做出的改变感到自豪，”
减少麻烦
芝加哥股票证券研究公司Consumer Intelligence Research Partners的 联合创始人约什·洛维茨（Josh Lowitz）指出，有关回报的一切对消费者和零售商都是一个挑战，交付产品的回报更具挑战性。
他告诉《电子商务时报》：“传统上，面对面的退货处理得很慢，而且常常让人感到羞耻。” “除了重新包装外，退回已交付产品还需要去邮局或运输服务，或支付取件费用。”
可变的退货政策也可能增加退货的麻烦。
电子商务专家Brian Connolly解释说：“消费者购买的每家商店都有不同的退货政策-包括您可以在哪里退货，必须退货多长时间以及等待退款的时间。”德克萨斯州奥斯汀市亚马逊卖家软件套件制造商Jungle Scout的作者和作家。
他告诉《电子商务时报》：“ 2020年，以安全的方式退货尤其困难。”
芝加哥的咨询和技术服务公司Upstartworks的品牌资产经理Hannah Frentzel指出，在线购物的最大好处之一就是消费者永远不必离开家。
她对《电子商务时报》说：“带来退货的麻烦是，您通常必须离开家才能获得退货。” “很多打算退货的人通常不会跟进。他们可能会将产品放在汽车后座上几个月，希望能绕回它，但从未这样做。”
她说：“因此，让FedEx在家里领取退货对购物者来说是革命性的。”
Lowtiz补充说：“这项服务是Walmart.com的一项竞争性进步。” “能够在数千家沃尔玛商店中退还沃尔玛购物已经是消费者的利益。免费的，在家中退货是在线购物中很少见的产品，而且沃尔玛引领这种方式很有趣。 ”
好时机
Frentzel赞扬了新沃尔玛产品推出的时机。她说：“假期是开展此类服务的最佳时机。” “零售商获得了很多新客户，因此，如果他们给他们带来了惊人的客户体验和轻松的退货流程，那将在未来巩固他们作为回头客的地位。”
“我们实际上看到零售商在假期前后对退货的要求越来越严格，” Frentzel补充说。“退货窗口更短。某些物品被禁止退回。这对沃尔玛很有好处。它使它们与众不同，在假期中显得更加慷慨。”
尽管让FedEx进行家庭退货是一个好主意，但Forrester Research的分析师Sucharita Kodali质疑使用物流公司获得退货退货的智慧。
她告诉《电子商务时报》：“我认为这实在有些过头。” “如果您是一家拥有近5,000个地点的商店，那么为什么将任何人都引到另一个地点令人困惑。”
她说：“根据我的经验，沃尔玛可以更慷慨地安排他们的退货和客户服务台，这样人们就不必排队等候了。如果他们解决了这个问题，那可能会解决最大的痛苦点。沃尔玛在实体店退货以进行在线订购。”
“实际上，” Kodali继续说道，“如果我是沃尔玛，我会尝试为其他零售商提供服务，以继续将人们吸引到商店中，但是也许沃尔玛不需要继续这样做，因为他们有足够的人流量或需要防止人群失控。”
与亚马逊竞争
在家取货可以使消费者受益，但它可能对沃尔玛和联邦快递都有商业利益。洛维茨指出：“这项服务还可以满足沃尔玛的物流需求，以有效地处理退货，并且可能部分是因为联邦快递希望成为沃尔玛不可替代的合作伙伴。”
Connolly补充说，沃尔玛正在做出许多改变以与亚马逊竞争。他说：“退货是亚马逊获得巨大成功的地方之一。”
他断言：“我认为这只是沃尔玛缩小自身与亚马逊之间差距的另一种尝试。” “亚马逊已经有许多不同的客户退货方式，而亚马逊会尽力使退货变得尽可能简单。在今天宣布之前，沃尔玛只有传统退货方式。
他继续说：“随着沃尔玛 的推出，越来越多的卖家希望采用沃尔玛作为产品的一种实现方式，重要的是沃尔玛能够提供有竞争力的福利（例如为消费者带来轻松回报），以使卖家满意。 ”
随着零售业巨头推出更多免费服务并减少购物过程中每个环节的摩擦，较小的零售商开始感到压力。
Frentzel说：“如果您不是亚马逊或沃尔玛，每天都会变得越来越艰难。” “现在几乎可以期望，无论您在哪里购物，人们都希望获得免费送货，免费退货和换货以及两天送货。亚马逊和沃尔玛这样做很容易，但对其他零售商来说却无利可图。”
Connolly同意，对于小型零售商而言，竞争是困难的。他补充说：“但是那些较小的零售商正在学习通过改变提供的商品或提供的方式来适应的方法。” “即使方便，并不是每个人都想一直在沃尔玛或亚马逊购物。”
Walmart on Monday raised the bar for service by an online retailer with its announcement of free home pickup of customer returns.
Called "Carrier Pickup by Fedex," the program allows items bought at Walmart's online store to be returned with a minimum of hassle by scheduling a home pickup from the store and printing a return label for the item.
If you can't print a return label, you can create a QR code within the Walmart app. The code can be scanned at any FedEx office, which will handle the return for you.
Walmart also announced it's making some changes to help expedite in-store returns. For example, it's allowing the return process to be started online -- no matter how the item was purchased -- to speed up the process once the item is brought to a store.
It's also addressing the lost receipt problem. If an item was bought in-store with a payment card, the transaction can be called up at any register.
The company added that refund times have also been improved. For many online returns, refunds will be credited to a customer's payment account sometimes as soon as the next day, and for in-store returns, the same day.
"The holidays are stressful enough," Walmart U.S. Vice President for Customer Strategy, Science and Journeys Linne Fulcher said in a statement. "No matter how customers buy items, we want the returns experience to be easy, safe and seamless."
"We're proud of the changes we're making to take some of the stress -- and those unwanted Christmas sweaters -- off our customers' backs," she added.
Less Hassle
Everything about returns is a challenge -- for both consumers and for retailers -- and returns for delivered products are even more challenging, noted Josh Lowitz, co-founder of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, an equity securities research company in Chicago.
"Traditionally, in-person returns were handled slowly and often had an element of shame," he told the E-Commerce Times. "In addition to repackaging, returns of delivered products required a trip to a post office or shipping service, or paying for a pick up."
Variable return policies can also add to the hassle of returning items.
"Every store a consumer buys from has a different return policy -- including where you can return a product, how long you have to return a product and the wait time to get your money back," explained Brian Connolly, an e-commerce expert and writer for Jungle Scout, maker of a software suite for Amazon sellers, in Austin, Texas.
"2020 made it especially hard to return products in a safe manner," he told the E-Commerce Times.
Hannah Frentzel, a brand portfolio manager for Upstartworks, a consulting and technology services company in Chicago, noted that one of the biggest benefits of online shopping is that consumers never have to leave their home.
"The hassle with returns is you do have to leave your home, usually, to make a return," she told the E-Commerce Times. "A lot of people who intend to return products often don't follow through. They might have the product sitting on the backseat of their car for months, hoping to get around to returning it but never doing it."
"So having FedEx pick up returns at the home is revolutionary for shoppers," she maintained.
"This service is a competitive step forward for Walmart.com," added Lowtiz. "Being able to return Walmart.com purchases at any of the thousands of Walmart stores was already a consumer benefit. Free, from-home returns is a rare offering in online shopping, and it is interesting that Walmart.com is leading the way."
Good Timing
Frentzel praised the timing of the new Walmart offering. "The holidays are the perfect time to launch services like this," she said. "Retailers get a lot of new customers, so if they give them an amazing customer experience and easy return process, that's going to solidify them as a repeat customer in the future."
"We actually see retailers getting more stringent with returns around the holidays," added Frentzel. "Windows for returns are shorter. Some items are restricted from being returned. This is good for Walmart. It sets them apart and makes them seem more generous during the holidays."
While having FedEx doing home pickups of returns is a good idea, Sucharita Kodali, an analyst with Forrester Research, questioned the wisdom of using the logistics company for drop-off returns.
"I think it's honestly a bit overboard," she told the E-Commerce Times. "If you're a store with nearly 5,000 locations, why you're directing anyone to another location is baffling."
"From my experience," she said, "Walmart could staff their returns and customer service desk a bit more generously so people don't have to wait in line. If they solved that problem, that would probably solve the biggest pain point with a Walmart in-store return for an online order."
"In fact," Kodali continued, "if I were Walmart, I would try to offer services for other retailers to continue to drive people into stores, but maybe Walmart doesn't need to keep doing that, as they get enough foot traffic or need to keep crowds from getting out of control."
Competing with Amazon
Home pickup of returns benefits consumers, but it may have business benefits to both Walmart and FedEx. "The service may also serve Walmart's logistics needs to efficiently process returned merchandise and may be partially motivated by FedEx's desire to be an irreplaceable partner for Walmart," Lowitz observed.
Walmart is making many changes to compete with Amazon, added Connolly. "Returning items was one place where Amazon was winning heavily," he said.
"I think this is just another attempt from Walmart to close the gap between itself and Amazon," he asserted. "Amazon already has many different ways customers can return items and Amazon does its best to make returning as easy as possible. Walmart only had traditional returns until today's announcement.
"With the introduction of Walmart and more sellers looking to adopt Walmart as a way to fulfill products," he continued, "it's important that Walmart be able to offer competitive perks -- such as easy returns for consumers -- to make sellers happy."
As retail giants roll out more free services and reduce friction at every point in the shopping process, smaller retailers are beginning to feel the pinch.
"It's getting tougher and tougher every day if you're not an Amazon or Walmart," Frentzel said. "It's almost an expectation now that anywhere you shop people expect free shipping, free returns and exchanges and two-day shipping. It's easy for Amazon and Walmart to do that, but it's just not profitable for other retailers."
Connolly agreed that competition is difficult for smaller retailers. "But those smaller retailers are learning ways to adapt by changing what they offer or how they offer it," he added. "Not everyone wants to shop on Walmart or Amazon all the time, even if it is convenient."
