Shoppers have more options to return online purchases

NEW YORK (AP) >> Ahead of the holiday season, shoppers have more options to return unwanted items bought online as retailers look for new ways to drive traffic.

Plenty of retailers like Target and Walmart allow shoppers to easily drop off online returns at their stores. But now, a growing number of retailers are accepting rivals’ returns.

Nordstrom’s new service hubs in Los Angeles and Manhattan accept returns of online orders from any retailer. In July, Kohl’s started accepting Amazon returns in all 1,100 stores, up from 100 previously.

Meanwhile, Happy Returns, a Santa Monica, California-based startup that works with about 30 online retailers, more than doubled the number of dropoff locations to 700.

The moves come as retailers aim to reduce costs while making it easier for shoppers to return online items. The average return rate for online transactions is 25% compared with 8% for store purchases, according to Forrester Research’s online analyst Sucharita Mulpuru.

Package delivery giant UPS is adding 12,000 pickup and return locations inside CVS, Michaels and Advance Auto Parts stores. The new locations will bring to 21,000 the number of pickup points UPS has in the U.S.

“Returning a product is annoying,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. “If you can take some of the hassle by giving customers lots of options, that’s really customer service.”

But Saunders and others note that shoppers need to make sure that they didn’t miss the return deadline. They also need to check other things like whether the items were bought on a retailer’s marketplace of third-party sellers and also how fast can they get the refund. Also, some services like Happy Returns allows shoppers to return online orders in person without a box or label. For others, you need the packaging.

Here are three tips for returning online orders:

KNOW THE RULES WHEN RETURNING GOODS FROM RIVALS: Through a partnership with technology company

BILL SIKES - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO In this June file photo, a shopping cart sits in the parking lot of a Target store in Marlborough, Mass. Plenty of retailers like Target and Walmart allow shoppers to drop off online returns at their stores. But now, a growing number of retailers are accepting rivals’ returns.