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Amazon customers will be able to return purchases to any Kohl’s store in July
- srhngpr 7y agoThis is pretty sweet. Wish we had this in Canada! Just out of curiosity, am I missing any downsides to this? Can anyone from Los Angeles, Chicago or Milwaukee markets share their experience?
- Dig1t 7y agoIt's amazing tbh, this is how I return things now. There's no reason to go through the hassle of mailing crap anymore, I can just stop at Kohl's on the way home (and pick up some In-N-Out next door ;)), drop my stuff off, and continue on my way. The returns area is right at the front of the store and its super quick to drop off your stuff. Whoever came up with this idea should get a promotion.
- kijeda 7y agoIt was pretty straightforward. The return counter was right by the front door where you'd typically do other kinds of returns or exchanges, and after returning they give you a voucher for a percentage off purchases at Kohl's that day (20% off if I remember correctly). What is odd is my most recent Amazon return they did not offer that store as an return option, instead my nearest drop off point was an Amazon Books location about 15 miles further away. I'd assumed the Kohl's experiment was over.
- __david__ 7y agoIt was really painless. I bought something without paying attention and got the wrong model. Normally this means when returning the item I'm out the return shipping cost, but with the Kohls return I just walked into the store with only the item I was returning (unboxed, even) and they scanned a QR code from an email on my phone. There was zero cost and I didn't have to repack a box (though I did have to drive to a store).
- derekp7 7y agoIn addition to whatever Amazon pays Kohls for being a returns agent, when a customer returns an Amazon item to Kohls and gets their refund, that customer now has an extra chunk of cash in their pocket while at Kohls. I wonder how many extra sales Kohls will make by bringing in extra money-ladened customers with this arrangement.
- mplewis 7y agoThat's just what I was thinking. We always have Kohl's Cash about to expire floating around our house. Now we've got a reason to spend it and time to do so.
- lotsofpulp 7y agoI don’t think kohl’s will be refunding cash to people, that would bring a whole host of problems to Amazon and Kohl’s.
- esalman 7y agoA fraction of the people are still going to spend money when they return items, knowing that they will be refunded by Amazon eventually.
- joezydeco 7y agoOn every return I have done at Kohl’s there was a 25% off one item today-only coupon printed at the bottom of the receipt. The money itself went back to whatever form of payment was used to buy at Amazon. The credit is also not instantaneous.
- dstaley 7y agoThis makes a ton of sense for Amazon, but not as much for Kohls. Why would I want to make returns easier for one of my competitors? A key advantage brick-and-mortar stores have over online retailers is their local returns, so I'm not really understanding why Kohl's is giving that up.
- dragonwriter 7y ago> This makes a ton of sense for Amazon, but not as much for Kohls. Why would I want to make returns easier for one of my competitors? Kohl's also has Amazon boutiques; they see both this and the returns as a way to drive floor traffic that they expect they can monetize.
- tartuffe78 7y agoIt brings people into their stores. If n% of people returning an Amazon package look around Kohl's while they are there, it's a win.
- massivecali 7y agoBecause getting customers into a store is half the battle. The offchance they make a purchase, even that overpriced 2 dollar soda, is a win for Kohl's. It is all traffic and business they might not otherwise have.
- tyingq 7y agoDoesn't change your point, which makes great sense. Kohl's, though, is mostly clothes and shoes, with a smattering of small appliances and luggage. It's not a department store really.
- burntwater 7y agoAnd clothes and shoes are actually the things I'm most likely to buy in a store.
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- moneywoes 7y agoGood way to get more foot traffic in Kohls.
- incongruity 7y agoAnd a good way to possibly build towards a buyout if Amazon decides it wants a larger retail presence. I'm not saying they should do so but it sure seems like a starting point for Kohl's.
- blowski 7y agoI’m British and I’ve never heard of Kohl’s. What do they do?
- nkrisc 7y agoThey're a department store chain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohl%27s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohl%27s
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- rhinoceraptor 7y agoIt’s a clothing/housewares store. Their gimmick is everything is overpriced so you need to shop when there’s a sale so you can use a scratch off 30% coupon, and a credit card they force employees to push.
- Dirlewanger 7y agoOh man, I can't imagine the logistics with all this. Exactly what items are eligible? Do they enter in Kohl's system, or Amazon's system? Are they thrown in the same pile of returns to be put back on the floor at the end of the night by workers, or are they put in a special area that each Kohl's has? What if a Kohl's employees caves into an angry customer trying to return an ineligible item? Is that even possible?
- incongruity 7y agoHaving been a customer in this exchange, it looks like all Amazon systems. Amazon sold goods seem to be eligible - All? I'm not sure but that's handled by Amazon, so no load on Khol's and everything is shipped back to Amazon - presumably in bulk so as to save on shipping/packaging materials and labor.
- Scoundreller 7y agoProbably an RMA scanner and bin for Amazon to pickup from. Then its verified in the warehouse. Maybe amazon will pay kohl’s to directly send things to the dumpster. Probably saves Amazon some return shipping cost, especially for bigger/bulkier items.
- yalogin 7y agoThis is just Kohl’s accepting the reality and trying to get on Amazon’s side before the competition does. Because I can many of the other stores wanting a similar deal with amazon.
- jmpman 7y agoMaybe the Kohl’s execs are trying to line themselves up for an Amazon acquisition? If they’ve changed their compensation model recently, it may provide some insight into their motivation. An Amazon acquisition would cause a significant stock bump...
- whalesalad 7y agoFunny, my wife and I have been doing this for months here in Orange County. I guess this was a beta rollout or something. Personally I would much rather pack it up myself, but lately it's been $0 return at Kohls vs. sometimes I have seen a decent return fee for the UPS method.
- seabj0rn 7y agoIf only this worked in the other direction where Kohl's Cash could be used on Amazon... you've heard of Bitcoin Billionaires, but my mom is a Kohl's Cash Billionaire!
- tokyodude 7y agoKohl's started spamming me with no way to opt out / unsubscribe many years ago. I had never done any business with them at the time nor ever given them my contact info. Had never been to one of their stores. Had no idea what they even sold. Since that time I vowed never to do business wirh them ever. Not happy that Amazon is partnering with such a bad company
- fnord123 7y agoTIL Kohl's is an American Department Store chain. Not to be confused with Kiehl's, the cosmetic brand with an international reach. It was a confusing moment to think you could return Amazon orders to a cosmetics shop in the US. But American retail makes no sense to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- novok 7y agoWhen will they do this with their whole foods, amazon go & amazon 4-star popup stores?
- mnm1 7y agoI wonder if you will immediately get notified of your account closure in person when returning things in a way Amazon doesn't like or will they just send you an email after the fact?