 | |
| 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 works with online merchants to handle product returns. Purchased items can be returned in person without boxes or labels at thousands of third-party Return Bar locations in the U.S. Among these are FedEx, Cost Plus World Market, and Paper Source stores, with specific locations searchable on Happy Returns’ website. Consumers can receive their refunds without packaging their items, printing and affixing labels, or waiting for mailed packages to reach their destinations.[1][2][3]
Happy Returns introduced its Return Bar service in April 2016. The company facilitates returns for many brands, both brick-and-mortar and direct-to-consumer merchants, including Levi's, Revolve, Rothy's, Everlane, Steve Madden[4], Gymshark[1][5][6] E-commerce conglomerate, Amazon, later developed a similar program in conjunction with Kohl’s stores to accommodate its shoppers.[2][7]
Happy Returns aggregates and bulk ships returns inside reusable packaging from its Return Bar locations to warehouse hubs, where returns are sorted, processed, and dispositioned, and then shipped back to merchant warehouses. The company’s software works with many e-commerce platforms and a public app is available in the Shopify App Store.[1][8]
History edit
David Sobie and Mark Geller co-founded Happy Returns in July 2015. The two met at NordstromRack.com/HauteLook[9], where they created and launched a similar program enabling shoppers to return online purchases to physical stores.[10]
In August 2015, Sobie and Geller obtained private seed funding of $1.9 million from multiple investors including Upfront Ventures, Brilliant Ventures, and Lowercase Capital.[11] Happy Returns opened its first Return Bar location in April 2016.[10]
Three years later, the company secured an additional $11 million of funding, led by PayPal Ventures (the fundraising arm of PayPal) together with existing investors, U.S. Venture Partners and Upfront Ventures. Since its founding in 2015, Happy Returns has raised a total of $25 million.[11]
In June 2021, Happy Returns was acquired by PayPal to expand its post-purchase product offerings.[12]
Sustainability edit
By bulk-shipping commingled returns in reusable packaging from Return Bar locations to warehouse hubs, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are reduced by an estimated 120,000 lbs for every one million returns, addressing the sustainability goals of many retail customers.[1]
I've enclosed COI (paid) notes where applicable. Feel free to contact me with questions, thanks. spncrinc edit
- ^ a b c d Debter, Lauren (2020). "After Amazon Split, FedEx Chases Bigger Cut Of Online's Booming Returns Business". Forbes.
- ^ a b Del Rey, Jason (2020). "Online shopping is booming but so are returns. An old-school solution is gaining steam". Vox.
- ^ Rowan, Lisa (2019). "Happy Returns expands partnership with World Market". Retail Dive.
- ^ "Happy Returns Named to the 2020 CB Insights Retail Tech 100 -- List of Most Innovative B2B Retail Startups". Business Wire. 2020.
- ^ "Returns & Exchanges". Levi's.
- ^ "US Gymshark". Happy Returns.
- ^ Stone, Madeline (2019). "You can now return Amazon orders for free at all Kohl's stores — here's how it works". Business Insider.
- ^ "Happy Returns". Shopify.
- ^ "Nordstrom Vets See Online Returns As A Cash Cow In Waiting". Pymnts. 2016.
- ^ a b Rogers, Kate (2017). "A start-up's plan to take the headache out of online refunds". CNBC.
- ^ a b "Happy Returns Raises $11M in Funding". Finsmes. 2019.
- ^ Perez, Sarah (2021). "PayPal acquires returns logistics business, Happy Returns". Tech Crunch.