- Amazon offers a label to warn users that a product is the subject of many returns
- This provides additional information to the consumer
- It is also important for the e-commerce giant and its sellers as returns are more and more frequent.
“Frequently returned item: check this item’s details and user reviews for more information”. This mention recently appeared on Amazon. The label is above all intended for customers, but it is also a way of getting salespeople to act.
Amazon is now flagging frequently returned products that you maybe shouldn’t buy.
Great move! How have they not fixed the fake reviews/switcheroo issue yet?
This one is more painful because returns cost them $, switcheroo costs long-term loyalty pic.twitter.com/YK3aNm6l0n
— Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi) March 28, 2023
This warning is currently only available in the United States and is not visible to all customers. You must have an Amazon account and be logged in. It is therefore not yet known whether it will be deployed on a larger scale and elsewhere in the world. However, if the experience was conclusive, the e-commerce giant would be wrong to deny it.
Good news for sellers?
For buyers, in fact, it is an additional alarm signal and a valuable indicator that encourages vigilance. We know, for example, that online reviews are less and less relevant and that there are many fake reviews. The latter are less caricatural than in the past. The manipulators find out about the product before writing and they avoid praise that is a little too strong.
But this step is also taken in the interest of Amazon. While returns have tended to increase since the Covid pandemic, their volume has not since diminished. According Forbes, the problem is all the more glaring in terms of clothing. However, in this sector, once returned, the items are often unusable because they may have odors or be damaged. And that’s as much money lost on the selling side.
For Amazon, it is therefore a way to act without having to touch its generous policy which allows customers to return their products for thirty days for free, unless the item is too damaged.
And, this generates higher expenses, especially in terms of storage. While Amazon is trying to cut costs and has cut nearly 30,000 jobs, this is anything but trivial.
The measure could also lead to a change in behavior among third-party sellers. One can in particular imagine that they are more attentive in the description of their products to avoid seeing themselves thus labeled and losing many transactions.
For your part, would you be in favor of the introduction of such a mention in France on Amazon? Tell us in the comments.
