FedEx launches new web-based returns service for direct merchants
FedEx Corp. is promising to make it as easy to return consumer products to web retailers and catalogers as it is to return goods to physical stores, Bram Johnson, corporate vice president, tells InternetRetailer.com. Its new web-based Consolidated Returns service, which FedEx will officially announce on Monday, is designed to also help direct merchants better manage their returns process and get real-time returns information to support order management and marketing efforts, he adds.
"This makes it much like bringing a return back to a brick-and-mortar retailer," Johnson says. "A consumer can just take the product, which doesn`t have to be packed, and a return authorization number to a FedEx facility."
Direct merchants pay a monthly subscription fee to use the Consolidated Returns system, which FedEx maintains on a web server. Retailers issue a return authorization number for each product they sell; shoppers give that number to FedEx when returning a product. The FedEx clerk then keys that number into the Consolidated Returns system on the web, providing real-time visibility to the retailer.
Retailers simply need a web browser to access it and view real-time information on the returns, including SKU details, Johnson says. "Many catalogers and web merchants say they come in every day not sure if they`ll have 500 or 5,000 items coming back," he says. "Now they can see what`s coming back, including which SKUs." He notes that nine retailers have already signed up to use the system, but was unable to name them before Monday`s announcement.
Some retailers will integrate the Consolidated Returns system into their back-end order management and returns management systems, which will enable them to automatically update customer accounts and delivery records, Johnson says. And some retailers will use the real-time information on returns to see if they`re getting an unusually large number of returns for a particular product, which could then lead to changes in merchandising and marketing programs, he says. Retailers can also arrange to receive automated e-mail alerts to let them know when returns are being processed.
The system also enables consumers to visit FedEx.com to check on the status of their return, such as when they want to know when they can expect to have their account credited for the returned item. Although retailers will arrange to have some returns credited to customer accounts immediately, certain product categories like electronics often must get returned and tested before a credit can be issued.
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