Returns Are a Headache. More Retailers Are Saying, Just Keep It.

Shopping online doesn’t always go as planned.That polyester robe might be too scratchy.

Those sparkly stilettos might be a size too small (or just a bad idea).But sometimes, when you try to send the item back, you get a surprising message from the retailer: Here’s your money, but the product — you can just “keep it.” That’s right, they don’t want those heels, either.Fifty-nine percent of retailers have keep-it policies for items that aren’t financially viable to ship back, according to a 2023 survey on holiday shopping trends by goTRG, now called ReturnPro, a firm that helps retailers including Walmart manage returns.Most companies don’t advertise the policy prominently.Sometimes called returnless refunds, these policies are a response to a problem as old as e-commerce: how to limit the flood of online returns, which are time-consuming and expensive.

One estimate last year from the National Retail Federation showed that for every $1 billion in sales, the average retailer sustained $145 million in returns.The pain is magnified during the winter holidays, a peak shopping season.How it’s pronounced/kēp ĭt/We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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