General
Returns Are a Headache. More Retailers Are Saying, Just ‘Keep It.’
In a survey, nearly 60 percent of retailers said they had policies that refund customers for items that aren’t financially viable to send back.
Shopping online doesn’t always go as planned. That polyester robe might be too scratchy. Those sparkly stilettos might be a size too small (or just a bad idea).
But sometimes, when you try to send the item back, you get a surprising message from the retailer: Here’s your money, but the product — you can just “keep it.” That’s right, they don’t want those heels, either.
Fifty-nine percent of retailers have keep-it policies for items that aren’t financially viable to ship back, according to a 2023 survey on holiday shopping trends by goTRG, now called ReturnPro, a firm that helps retailers including Walmart manage returns. Most companies don’t advertise the policy prominently.
Sometimes called returnless refunds, these policies are a response to a problem as old as e-commerce: how to limit the flood of online returns, which are time-consuming and expensive. One estimate last year from the National Retail Federation showed that for every $1 billion in sales, the average retailer sustained $145 million in returns. The pain is magnified during the winter holidays, a peak shopping season.
How it’s pronounced
/kēp ĭt/
