New returns model: Amazon offers a discount instead of returns

Amazon has long been struggling with numerous returns, some of which lead to goods being destroyed. The e-commerce giant is now testing new ways to reduce the problem. It has recently started offering customers a surprising option in some cases: instead of returning an item that may only be slightly damaged, they can keep it and receive a partial refund of the purchase price.

The new procedure works like this: A customer orders an item such as headphones or a vacuum cleaner from Amazon and notices a small defect – a scratch or loose contact. When the buyer starts the return process in their customer account, Amazon suddenly offers them another option in addition to the usual return process: To keep the goods in return for a price reduction. According to Online Retailer News, the corresponding refund is currently often 2.99 euros.

This procedure is a service that makes the return process more convenient and saves customers time and effort, an Amazon spokesperson explained to the portal. The offer is available for various product categories and the selection depends on criteria such as size, price, and the stated reason for the return.

Open questions

Customers have – the choice between three options when they are selected for the offer –: accept the partial refund and accept the goods. Instead, they can also make the standard return. Thirdly, it is possible to accept the discount initially and still return the item later within the return period to receive the remaining outstanding purchase price.

At first glance, the new model seems very customer-friendly. It saves the effort of returning goods and protects the environment as unnecessary transportation is avoided. Customers also benefit directly from the discount.

However, according to Onlinehändler-News, the system also raises some questions: What criteria are used to decide which buyers receive the offer? Is it a fully automated, algorithm-controlled decision that could raise questions of discrimination? Are the discounts standardized or are they calculated individually? Are there safeguards against potential abuse where customers take advantage of the partial refund without actually intending to return?

Various approaches against returns

It is particularly problematic that the tried and tested option also appears for price-bound products such as books, which could constitute a violation of the German Book Price Fixing Act. Amazon has so far refused to comment on how the online retail giant ensures that all legal requirements are met.

In 2021, the then head of Amazon Germany, Ralf Kleber, complained that donating goods was still pricier than destroying them. Undercover reporters had previously tracked items ordered on a trial basis and fitted with trackers when they were returned to an Amazon "destruction plant" near Katowice in Poland. Meanwhile, the company has set up programs to facilitate the resale of returns and unsold stock to buyers of remaining stock or directly to customers of the platform in some countries, such as Germany. Zalando is taking a different approach and has recently started penalizing "excessive" returners.

(dmk)