Dive Brief:
- Pitney Bowes and PackageHub, a franchise system of retail shipping stores, have launched a drop-off network for product returns with no box or label required, according to an announcement last week.
- The network features nearly 1,000 locations for returns across the U.S., with roughly 50% of the population within 10 miles of a location. Hundreds of additional locations are launching in the coming months.
- There is no additional cost for retailers or consumers to use the network. E-commerce brands already using Pitney Bowes' returns service have immediate access to the network with no additional integration required.
Dive Insight:
The collaboration with PackageHub allows Pitney Bowes to expand its existing returns network, which already offers no-label returns at 30,000 postal locations.
Bolstering this network furthers Pitney Bowes' ambitions to lower the cost of returns while improving the shopper experience, Gregg Zegras, EVP and president of Global Ecommerce at Pitney Bowes, said in a statement. Returns costs have grown to become a frequent pain point for shippers, and some have tacked on new fees or deployed other tactics to minimize the impact to their bottom line.
“Ecommerce returns are among the fastest-growing costs for retailers—costs that are sure to increase given the historic levels of online shopping we’ve seen this holiday,” Zegras said.
Pitney Bowes and PackageHub's network is launching in the midst of the product returns wave that follows the peak holiday shipping season. Out of $966 billion in estimated U.S. holiday sales, $148 billion worth of merchandise is expected to be returned, according to research from the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail.
No-box returns, like what the PackageHub network offers, reduce the likelihood of incorrect or invalid items being returned, according to the announcement. Companies lost $101 billion to returns abuse and fraud last year, per the NRF and Appriss Retail's research.
Other delivery providers are also strengthening their returns offerings. UPS announced last year its purchase of Happy Returns would allow it to provide a consolidated returns service for larger retail customers, sorting and palletizing products for bulk shipping. FedEx has also rolled out a consolidated returns service.
