Amazon is running a limited test on the e-commerce website that displays a message letting customers know that a particular item has a higher rate of returns. This should assist customers in figuring out what items people keep, which denotes quality and which are often returned for many reasons. The only things currently showing the message are 3rd party companies that stock their item in Amazon warehouses for quick shipping.
The new warning label had a headline that says “frequently returned” and goes on to tell the customer to read the comments and reviews to learn more about the item.“ We’re showing return rate information on some product detail pages to help our customers make more informed purchase decisions,” Amazon spokesperson Betsy Harden confirmed to The Information this week. It isn’t the first time Amazon has highlighted sales data publicly: The company recently began displaying a badge showing how many sales a product made, indicating how many units are sold monthly.
There is only a handful of warning labels that are on the main Amazon.com website, and you have to be logged in to see them; however, since it is a limited launch, not everyone will see the message. This is because Amazon is doing A/B testing on the feature. You can check out the Pro-Ject Automat A1 record player and two dresses spotted by The Information. These three items have a high star rating, which may initially reassure prospective consumers. However, glancing at the customer reviews indicates that the products are not true to size or have previously arrived damaged.
Amazon has a liberal return policy, giving customers up to 30 days to return an item for a full refund. Sales and returns skyrocketed during the pandemic and are still at an all-time high. Will showing what items are returned the most give customers an idea of what products to avoid? Will merchants with the badge do everything they can to avoid returns and bribe customers with gift cards not to return them?
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.