(InvestigateTV) — Statistia reports that 14.5% of purchased items were returned in 2023, and a growing number of retailers are telling consumers to keep items they no longer want.
Kyle James with Rather-Be-Shopping.com called it the “keep it policy”.
“Amazon, in particular, I noticed in the past year they let me keep a couple of the things I tried to return,” James noted. “I thought, ‘Oh that’s kinda strange.’ I started doing some research and I discovered about 8 other stores that do the same.”
James said he found some stores are using artificial intelligence (AI), which alerts the store when it’s not worth it to restock the item or pay for the shipping back on a bulky purchase that is being returned.
This typically happens more with online returns.
For instance, James said he bought dog food on the website Chewy.His dog didn’t like it, and Chewy told him to keep the …