Returns technology providers Loop and ReBound say they are joining forces.
The collaboration, announced Tuesday (July 16), lets retailers using the Loop platform access ReBound’s omnichannel returns management services. The integration allows Loop users to use ReBound’s global logistics offering, which includes return shipments, advanced local processing and consolidation.
“Our new integration with Loop provides a huge advantage for retailers, especially as Loop is natively embedded in Shopify and brands are increasingly choosing Shopify for their ecommerce,” Jelle Schoenmaker, ReBound managing director, said in a news release.
“Both Loop and ReBound will be able to benefit from the other’s extensive partner network. Working together, we will redefine the ecommerce returns journey for brands who want a competitive advantage in the online retail industry,” Schoenmaker added.
Jonathan Poma, CEO at Loop, added that the partnership “demonstrates the growing need for brands to have not only a well-integrated tech stack but a comprehensive reverse logistics program so they can focus on serving customers globally.”
Simpler returns are something that a significant number of consumers find important, as research by PYMNTS Intelligence has found.
And the returns process is evolving, both online and in person. Speaking with PYMNTS last summer, Poma discussed the status of product returns as well as the factors retailers must consider to recover their expenses.
“As long as you are delivering a high-quality, seamless and easy experience in the returns process and you can save that customer relationship — that’s critical,” Poma said.
That doesn’t mean that retailers are giving shoppers a free ride. As noted here last month, more merchants have begun to penalize consumers for sending back items.
Among them is Boozt, a Nordic digital department store operating across Europe which recently banned 60,000 customers who returned “an excessive number” of items. The company said it plans to crack down on “serial returners.”
“Now, approximately 60,000 customers out of a total of 3.5 million active customers are blocked,” Boozt Chief Financial Officer Sandra Gadd said at the time. “The behavior has not stopped, but we have learned to identify this type of customer.”
Last year, online fashion retailer Asos announced its plans to contend with these so-called serial returners, with CEO José Antonio Ramos Calamonte advocating for a distinction between “good returns and bad returns.” Earlier this year, The Cut reported that the company had undertaken lifetime bans for over-returning.
“There is no such thing as a free return,” David Sobie, chief executive of Happy Returns, told PYMNTS in an interview last year. “It’s just a question of who’s subsidizing the transaction. Free return for a shopper means the merchant’s paying. What we’re seeing retailers say is, ‘I’m going to have the free or the subsidized option be the one which is cheapest for me.’”
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