Can Doorstep Returns Streamline the Returns Process?

Sway, a startup specializing in doorstep returns, recently netted $19.5 million in a funding round as many retailers are increasingly seeing advantages in speeding the returns process by picking up packages from customers’ homes.

During holiday 2022, Walmart added a “Return Pickup from Home” option as a perk for Walmart+ members. Walmart said at the time, “Walmart+ members will be able to schedule a return from the comfort of their home and complete the process without having to leave their doorstep. Members won’t need to provide a box or a label — simply hand off the return to one of our delivery drivers, and Walmart will handle the rest.”

Last year, DoorDash began offering doorstep returns for packages going to UPS, FedEx, and USPS. Returns management software provider Optoro also announced last year that it was adding “Home Pick-ups” to its Express Returns program for retailers.

For consumers, doorstep returns promise the convenience of box-less, label-less returns without leaving their homes, potentially offering a goodwill boost for retailers. A survey of 1,000 online shoppers in 2023 from Veho, a last-mile logistics platform that supports doorstep returns, found that nearly half (49.2%) would be more likely to shop with a brand that allows customers to make doorstep returns.

Sway, formerly Returnmates, also offers doorstep exchanges with its overall gig-driver model supported by next-day and two-day delivery services. Sway’s co-founder and CEO Eric Wimer said, “When you maintain an open channel with the shopper, deliver their package seamlessly, and pick up their return if it doesn’t work out, you redefine the shopper’s relationship with the brand.”

For retailers, Sway said that returns handled through its network are consolidated and shipped back quickly, thus reducing per-unit costs by 15% and shortening cycle times from seven to less than three days.

Optoro said that its Express Returns program with doorstep pick-ups “improves processing speed by directly connecting return and pick up data to the warehouse, and by returning inventory faster to stock, keeps returns out of landfills too.”

A Wall Street Journal Video piece last year indicated that luxury retailers are more likely to offer doorstep returns as a free option since they have less inventory and more to lose if a pricier item gets bogged down in the returns process. However, doorstep returns may make sense for many retailers, with an Optoro 2023 report finding the majority of retailers stating that it costs between 20% and 39% of an item’s price to process it as a return.

“All the value of getting a return back faster accrues to the retailer,” Christian Piller, co-founder and chief commercial officer at inventory management startup Pollen Technologies, told the WSJ. “There’s no reason to charge the consumer another subscription fee or per package pickup fee.”

The interest in doorstep returns comes as retailers are increasingly adding restrictions or charging fees to offset the costs of returns.