 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Product return Logistics E-commerce Shopping |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, CA, U.S. |
Area served | United States |
Key people | David Sobie, CEO Mark Geller, COO Andrew Pease, CFO |
| Website | www |
Happy Returns is a Los Angeles-based software and reverse logistics company that enables box-free, label-free, in-person returns for online merchants at third-party Return Bar locations. Happy Returns launched their Return Bar service in April 2016. Eighteen months later, Amazon developed a similar program that allows its shoppers to drop off their returns at Kohl’s stores.[1][2]
Happy Returns facilitates returns for hundreds of brands — both brick-and-mortar and direct-to-consumer merchants — including Levi's[3], Revolve, Rothy's, Everlane, Steve Madden[4], Gymshark[5], and DressBarn.[6][7]
Happy Returns has location partnerships with numerous national retailers such as FedEx[8], Cost Plus World Market[9] and Paper Source[10] to enable online consumers to return items at more than 2,600 Return Bar locations[11] across the United States. Consumers can find Return Bar locations[12] by searching on the Happy Returns website.[7][13][14][15]
Happy Returns aggregates and bulk ships returns inside reusable packaging from their Return Bar locations to their warehouse hubs — where returns are sorted, processed, and dispositioned — and then shipped back to merchant warehouses.[16]
The software works with many e-commerce platforms and Happy Returns has a public app available in the Shopify App Store.[6][17][18]
History edit
Co-founders David Sobie and Mark Geller met at NordstromRack.com/HauteLook[19][20], creating and launching the hallmark Return to Rack program, where shoppers return online purchases to physical stores.[21]
Building on that success, Sobie and Geller founded Happy Returns in July 2015[22] to give all consumers the option to return items without a box or label at designated third-party locations such as traditional retailers, shopping malls, campus bookstores, and office buildings.[13]
Sobie and Geller closed their seed funding round in August 2015, raising $1.9 million[19] from investors including Upfront Ventures, Brilliant Ventures, and Lowercase Capital.[1]
In April 2016, Happy Returns opened its first Return Bar location.[1]
In April 2019, PayPal Ventures (the fundraising arm of PayPal) lead a fundraising round of $11 million with existing investors U.S. Venture Partners and Upfront Ventures. Since its founding in 2015, Happy Returns has raised a total of $25 million.[1][23]
Gartner named Happy Returns a 2020 Cool Vendor in Retail in May 2020.[24]
In June 2021, Happy Returns was acquired by PayPal to expand their post-purchase product offering.[7][25]
Pioneering Ideas edit
Happy Returns launched third-party box-free, label-free returns in April 2016. Over a year later, Amazon developed a similar program that allows its shoppers to drop off returns at Kohl’s.[1][2]
Happy Returns accepts box-free returns at a nationwide network of Return Bars and ships them in bulk in reusable packaging to nearby hubs for routing to the most efficient destinations. The box-free return model reduces the total distance traveled per return as well as cardboard used while in transit.[16]
Consumers can receive their refunds more quickly because they don't need to take the time to package returns, print and affix labels, or wait for returns to travel to their destinations by mail.[26]
Sustainability edit
Happy Returns offers cardboard-free returns, where returned items are commingled to bulk-ship inside reusable packaging from their Return Bar locations to Happy Returns’ warehouse hubs — where they are sorted, dispositioned, and processed — and then shipped back to retailer warehouses. By replacing cardboard boxes with reusable packaging, Happy Returns customers reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 120,000 lbs for every one million returns.[16]
References edit
- ^ a b c d e Rogers, Kate (2017). "A start-up's plan to take the headache out of online refunds". CNBC.
- ^ a b Stone, Madeline (2019). "You can now return Amazon orders for free at all Kohl's stores — here's how it works". Business Insider.
- ^ "Returns & Exchanges". Levi's.
- ^ "Happy Returns Named to the 2020 CB Insights Retail Tech 100 -- List of Most Innovative B2B Retail Startups". Business Wire. 2020.
- ^ "US Gymshark". Happy Returns.
- ^ a b Benveniste, Alexis (2020). "Soon FedEx won't require boxes and labels when you make some returns". CNN Business.
- ^ a b c Perez, Sarah (2021). "PayPal acquires returns logistics business, Happy Returns". Tech Crunch.
- ^ Wheless, Erika (2021). ""Covid was a huge catalyst": Brands look to maintain improvements in returns process". Digiday.
- ^ Stambor, Zak (2019). "Every Cost Plus World Market store now features a Happy Returns Return Bar". Digital Commerce 360.
- ^ Knudson, Julie (2020). "How retailers can handle the oncoming rush of returns". National Retail Federation.
- ^ D'Innocenzio, Anne (2020). "Retailers brace for flood of returns from online shopping". AP News.
- ^ "Locations". Happy Returns.
- ^ a b Debter, Lauren (2020). "After Amazon Split, FedEx Chases Bigger Cut Of Online's Booming Returns Business". Forbes.
- ^ Rowan, Lisa (2019). "Happy Returns expands partnership with World Market". Retail Dive.
- ^ Loeb, Walter (2020). "Happy Returns Takes Back Your Returns". Forbes.
- ^ a b c Mui, Wilton (2018). "Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Consolidated Returns Shipments: A Retail Study" (PDF).
- ^ Tyko, Kelly (2020). "Happy Returns expanding its network of 'Return Bars' with new collaboration with FedEx". USA Today.
- ^ "Happy Returns". Shopify.
- ^ a b "Nordstrom Vets See Online Returns As A Cash Cow In Waiting". Pymnts. 2016.
- ^ https://www.forbes.com/sites/shelleykohan/2020/09/17/happy-returns-equals-happy-customers-at-re-imagined-dressbarn-brand/?sh=3df99c49c4e8 | title=Happy Returns Equals Happy Customers At Re-Imagined Dressbarn Brand | year=2020 | website=Forbes | last=Kohan | first=Shelley}}
- ^ Del Rey, Jason (2016). "This startup wants to convince online shops that more returns can equal bigger business". Vox.
- ^ Coleman, Kali (2020). "The New Way You Can Instantly Get Your Money Back After a Return". Yahoo!.
- ^ "Happy Returns Raises $11M in Funding". Finsmes. 2019.
- ^ "Cool Vendors in Retail: Meeting Customer Basic Expectations Is More Important Than Ever". Gartner Research. 2020.
- ^ Rooney, Kate (2021). "PayPal to buy online returns start-up in its latest run at the retail shopping space". CNBC.
- ^ Del Rey, Jason (2020). "Online shopping is booming but so are returns. An old-school solution is gaining steam". Vox.