Our customers are counting on us more than ever to help them find the season’s best gifts while delivering incredible savings like only Walmart can,” said Charles Redfield, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S. “Black Friday has evolved over the years from a single day to an entire season and is without a doubt the most anticipated shopping event of the year. Paid Walmart+ members will have the advantage of an extended early access window that begins seven hours before the scheduled start times for all three events on. Walmart is also bringing back its highly anticipated Early Access benefit, and it’s better than ever. Koviem, the women's suit maker, uses software from 3DLook that lets customers see how their made-to-measure suit will look on them.New this year, Walmart’s “Black Friday Deals for Days” events will begin on every Monday in November, giving customers an exciting reason to look forward to the start of the work week. Alternatively, algorithms like Fit Predictor and True Fit estimate what size you should order based on personal information, your order history or your size from another retailer. Zeekit, acquired last year by Walmart, also lets you upload a photo or choose a model that looks like you to see how clothes fit (Walmart said it's still building the service for its shoppers). Services like Drapr, acquired last year by Gap, let you create 3D avatars to see how a piece of clothing is likely to look on your body. The practice is standard, with 58% of shoppers saying they've done it, according to a 2021 poll conducted by e-commerce customer service company Narvar. Retailers are trying to help.Ĭompanies like Gap and Walmart are investing in software that helps shoppers find the right fit so they won't "bracket," the industry term for buying the same item in multiple sizes and returning what doesn't fit. Of course, that isn't always an option.Ī more effective approach is to reduce the number of returns you need to make. You can reduce the environmental impact of your return by taking it back in person if there's a store near you. If a retailer sends your return to overseas recyclers, reclaiming the materials can release harmful chemicals. Rather than reselling your item, the retailer will send a new item to another shopper, meaning more resources consumed. Trashed items require even more fuel for transportation because they make the additional trip from a return facility to the dump. Optoro estimates that about 5.8 billion pounds of goods returned to all retailers in the US end up in the landfill in a year.Ī return ending up in the dump is an environmental worst-case scenario. (Amazon has said it tries to donate or recycle goods.) An Amazon facility in the UK sent returned items to a "destruction zone" that disposed of millions of items in a year, according to ITV News. Retailers simply dispose of low-cost items if that's cheaper than reselling them, Makov says. Retailers told the National Retail Federation they expect to see $158 billion of merchandise returned from online and in-person holiday purchases, a 56% increase from 2020. The mindset contributes to an estimated return rate for online purchases that's as much as five times higher than for brick-and-mortar purchases, according to Optoro, a company that manages returns for online retailers. That's especially true of clothing, which shoppers buy in multiple sizes to try on as they might in a dressing room. Online shopping has turbocharged the process because consumers often plan to return some of the goods they buy. Schlep that janky blender back to the big box store and a refund to your credit card is usually quick and simple. Clothes don't fit, appliances have manufacturing flaws or shoppers just change their minds. Returns also take a toll on the environment, requiring additional fossil fuel to ship and creating tons of trash. The process creates headaches for companies, which have to sort and store the items and decide if they have any resale value. Not having been able to see or try products, many people shipped those gifts, as well as their own online purchases, back to retailers.
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