If you’ve ever had a customer complain that the product they ordered online didn’t match what they received, PayPal Holdings, Inc. would like to help you out.
The e-commerce giant officially launched its “Return Shipping on Us” service in Canada today, allowing Canadian PayPal users who are unsatisfied with their online purchases to receive shipping refunds for up to 10 eligible orders per year – and perhaps giving customers who are thinking of ordering from smaller online retailers an incentive to do so.
Naturally, to take advantage of PayPal’s offer, online stores must first be subscribers.
In a statement, PayPal Canada’s head of consumer marketing, Kerry Reynolds, said the company hoped the new service would both help smaller businesses and encourage more Canadians to shop online, noting that while Canadian e-commerce is expected to be worth $34.5 billion in 2016 – an eight per cent increase from last year – many Canadians remain wary of online shopping.
In April, the company commissioned research firm Ipsos Canada to conduct a study which discovered that 40 per cent of Canadians are worried about ordering the wrong item online and not being able to return it, while a further 27 per cent said they had been forced to pay for shipping items back in the past year, the majority paying $10 or more per return.
Moreover, 86 per cent of respondents said that free return shipping service would make them more likely to shop online, while the company’s 2015 Cross-Border Consumer Research report found that 38 per cent of Canadians who do not engage in cross-border shopping would be more likely to buy online from another country if free return shipping was offered, PayPal said.
PayPal already offers the service in nearly 40 other markets around the world, where it’s already been used by millions of customers, according to the company.
Limitations apply on both sides: In addition to being limited to 10 refunds per calendar year, “Return Shipping on Us” customers must be eligible PayPal account owners; register for the service on the company’s website; request a refund on shipping costs within two weeks of mailing their return; and are limited to $30 per claim.
The full terms can be read here.
