Amazon Teams With FedEx to Expand Free Returns Program

Amazon has expanded its free returns program to 10,000-plus U.S. drop-off points.

The eCommerce giant announced Wednesday (March 25) that this expansion means that 80% of its U.S. customers now have a drop-off point within five miles of their home. These include 1,500 FedEx Office locations, part of a new partnership with the shipping company.

“Convenience doesn’t end once you place your order,” Gopal Pillai, vice president of returns and recommerce at Amazon, said in a news release. “We’re constantly working to make returns simpler, and bringing FedEx Office locations into our nationwide network is one more way we’re building a return experience that fits naturally into customers’ everyday lives.”

According to the release, the program lets customers begin the return process in their Amazon account, where they can pick a nearby drop-off point and get a QR code. From there, they can bring their unpackaged item and QR code to their chosen location, where the item is scanned and prepared for shipping, with no shipping box or label needed.

In addition to FedEx Office stores, Amazon also has returns-based partnerships with its own Whole Foods Market, as well as The UPS Store, Kohl’s, and Staples, along with what it calls “regional partners” like Winn-Dixie, Save Mart and Goodwill.

As PYMNTS wrote earlier this year, the company’s approach to returns highlights the way that consumer expectations and operational realities have begun to dovetail.

“The model reduces parcel shipping, accelerates item verification and improves recovery economics through consolidation,” that report said. “While few retailers can replicate Amazon’s scale, the strategy highlights that returns must move away from individual doorstep shipments and into controlled, lower-cost nodes.”

Meanwhile, Amazon has been making some significant changes to its shipping practices as it competes with the likes of FedEx.

News surfaced recently that it had begun scaling back the volume of packages it ships via the U.S. Postal Service with the goal of shrinking that number by at least two-thirds before its government contract expires this fall.

The company also recently acquired RIVR, a Swiss physical AI firm that uses wheeled-legged robots to automate doorstep delivery, while also announcing the expansion of its one-hour and three-hour delivery offerings.

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