Making a return at Wal-Mart used to take roughly five minutes. But the discount retailer is on a mission to slash that to 30 seconds, said Daniel Eckert, senior vice president of Wal-Mart Services and Digital Acceleration.
The company will take its first step in early November – when it rolls out Wal-Mart`s Mobile Express Returns, for items sold and shipped by Walmart. Store purchases should be integrated into the system by early 2018.
"We know that returning an item and waiting for a refund, especially for a product purchased online, isn`t always seamless, so we`ve completely transformed the process for our customers – whether they are shopping in stores or at Walmart.com," Eckert said in prepared remarks.
Shoppers often consider returning unwanted or defective purchases to stores to be a hassle. And unfortunately, it`s often unavoidable. At least 30 percent of all products ordered online are returned, compared to an average of 9 percent of in-store purchases, according to online retail consultant Invesp.
For Wal-Mart`s online shoppers, making a return will soon require just two steps. Customers will start the returns process on their phones, using Wal-Mart`s app before heading to the store. Then, using a Mobile Express Lane at a Wal-Mart store, they will scan a QR code, which will prompt a refund to be credited to a shopper`s payment account.
Earlier this year, Wal-Mart announced it would be rolling out the so-called Express Lanes at most of its stores, and by late August that undertaking was complete.
The lanes were created specifically for Wal-Mart`s Pharmacy and Money Service customers — those that fill their prescriptions at Wal-Mart, and those that transfer money at the retailer`s stores.
Now, the lanes will also be used to handle returns.
Starting in December, shoppers will also have a unique option for certain items, like shampoo, household cleaning supplies and cosmetics. Through the Wal-Mart app, a shopper may receive an instant refund on some purchases without having to return anything to the store. Other items — those that stores can`t reuse once they`ve been opened or damaged — are planned to be added to this particular offering over time.
When asked how Wal-Mart will prevent customers abusing the new "keep it" option, Eckert said on a call with the media that the company has invested in technology to make sure the service isn`t taken advantage of.
To be sure, none of Wal-Mart`s retail peers have made a similar promise — receive a refund without bringing an item back — of such a large scale.
"We recognize time has become the new currency in retail, as much as saving money," Eckert said on the call. "We felt [Mobile Express Returns] was a growing expectation we needed to address, and do it well."
"By leveraging our physical stores and the Walmart app, we`re changing the returns game in ways that only Walmart can do," Eckert added in prepared remarks.
It`s true, e-commerce players like Amazon don`t have as vast a physical footprint as retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Costco today.
Nonetheless, Amazon is making strides to grow its brick-and-mortar presence so that customers have more places readily available to them to make returns. Kohl`s, for example, has agreed to open its doors to Amazon, promising to fulfill the internet giant`s returns at more than 80 of Kohl`s department stores.
Amazon has also started processing returns at Whole Foods stores across the U., after it acquired the grocery chain in August.
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