Photo: Kohl's
What began as a 100-store test in 2017 has blown up with the announcement that Kohl’s will accept returns for products ordered on Amazon.com at all of its 1,150 stores in 48 states.
“Amazon and Kohl’s have a shared passion in providing outstanding customer service, and this unique partnership combines Kohl’s strong nationwide store footprint and omnichannel capabilities with Amazon’s reach and customer loyalty,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s CEO, in a statement. “This new service is another example of how Kohl’s is delivering innovation to drive traffic to our stores and bring more relevance to our customers.”
Speaking on the chain’s fourth quarter earnings call last month, Ms. Gass said “how excited” Kohl’s customers were about the service and hinted at what was to come.
“It's really unique. It takes a lot of the hassle out of returning items. It's free. They don’t have to package it. The big question of course at hand is, how we go forward and we continue to be in conversations with Amazon. It really needs to be a win-win for both. So, I'd say stay tuned on that front,” she said.
The expansion of the Amazon return program is not the only recent change in the relationship between the two companies. Also announced last month, Kohl’s ended 30 dedicated pop-up shops operating inside its stores selling Amazon devices and expanded the products throughout the store in 200 locations.
“We had a great Black Friday (2018) with Amazon devices. And so the learnings that we're taking in terms of how customers engage in the shop-in-shop, we’re actually going to bring it into a dedicated space in over 200 stores, as I mentioned, with a broader assortment of Amazon devices, but it will be more on a self-serve environment, which is how our customers are used to shopping us” said Ms. Gass via Seeking Alpha. “This was determined by both us and Amazon, and again we believe the products will be fantastic and the experience will be great for our customers.”