Logistics and shipping company FedEx has announced that it’s teaming up with Walgreens to allow customers to return items at thousands of locations around the country.
FedEx Returns Technology, which is the company’s “solution for simplifying returns” and is currently available at the 1,900 FedEx Office locations around the country, will now also be available at Walgreens. The new initiative is going to start in November so it will be ready by the holiday season.
With the new feature, customers will be able to print shipping labels in the stores, and merchants who use the technology can send a customer a return code that the customer can use at Walgreens. A store associate will print the code and the label.
“With the volume of eCommerce returns growing rapidly, it’s essential that retailers have an easy returns process that meets the expectations of today’s shoppers and carefully minds the growing costs,” said Ryan P. Kelly, vice president of Global eCommerce Marketing for FedEx Services. “Shoppers prefer to take their online returns to a physical location, so by expanding FedEx Returns Technology to our broader convenience network with Walgreens, we’re enabling merchants and eTailers to offer more locations for their customers to bring their returns.”
The new service means that Walgreens can now count itself as part of the FedEx retail convenience network, which has pickup and drop-off services at almost 14,000 retail locations.
“Our service offering with FedEx has been very well received by our customers, and implementing this latest technology in our stores will deliver even greater convenience to meet the needs of today’s customer,” said Richard Ashworth, president of Operations for Walgreens. “This is especially meaningful heading into the holiday season as more customers shop for gifts online and we’re able to offer safe, secure package pickup and drop-off services.”
FedEx Returns Technology launched in March 2018. Its purpose is to simplify the shipping process by allowing for the ease of dropping off returns with inspections, professional packing and faster refunds.