Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

On the morning of April 11, Beijing time, it was reported that Amazon began charging fees for some returns from UPS outlets (UPS Store of United Parcel Service) in order to reduce the costs associated with customer returns.

Amazon began charging UPS outlets for return fees, as well as last month's warning against "frequent returns" for certain items, which are measures in the cost-cutting plan to reduce return-related fees.

Previously, Amazon shoppers could return their products free of charge by placing them at UPS outlets. Amazon has also experimented with free returns on some Staples stores since 2022. But earlier this year, the company began charging a fee of $1 (currently about 6.88 yuan) for the return of some goods. Amazon will also increase return fees if customers have other free return options, such as whole Foods, Cole or Amazon fresh restaurants, which are equal to or closer to UPS outlets, an Amazon spokesman said.

In its early days, Amazon relied on external delivery companies. But as its self-built logistics network becomes better and more capable of handling deliveries and returns in major US markets, the company is gradually reducing its cooperation with UPS and FedEx.

According to UPS's most recent annual report, the company's share of Amazon-related revenue fell from 13.3% in 2020 to 11.3% in 2022.

Amazon has also charged for other return options for UPS. In 2022, Amazon began charging customers who asked UPS delivery drivers to retrieve returned goods, an Amazon spokesman confirmed. The company also charges customers who deliver Amazon returns at UPS access points (UPS Access point, third-party companies that accept packages on behalf of UPS). Both returns require customers to package and print shipping labels, while returning items to UPS outlets, whole Foods, Cole, Amazon fresh and Amazon Go unmanned convenience stores do not require packaging or labels.

Amazon spokesman Lauren Samaha once said: "We provide Amazon customers with a convenient and quick return service, offering one or more free return options that do not need to be labeled or packaged."

In 2020, with the prosperity and development of e-commerce, the customer return rate increased sharply. According to statistics from the National Retail Foundation, the overall return rate of the e-commerce industry more than doubled year-on-year to 18% that year, and has since gradually declined slightly to 16.6% in 2021 and 16.5% in 2022. Amazon did not disclose its return data, nor did it list which return methods are more popular. But some third-party sellers who use the site say Amazon shoppers are more likely to return.

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