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Comment by dstaley | Hacker News Reader

This makes a ton of sense for Amazon, but not as much for Kohls. Why would I want to make returns easier for one of my competitors? A key advantage brick-and-mortar stores have over online retailers is their local returns, so I'm not really understanding why Kohl's is giving that up.

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We've been able to return most Amazon Prime items to Kohls here in SoCal for a while. When you drop off the return they hand you a 25% off coupon for anything in the store. There has been several times that I've browsed the store and bought something because of that coupon.

So basically, Kohl's gets foot traffic and some purchases that they wouldn't have seen otherwise. Seems like a very smart and adaptive move on their part.

Also at least at our local Kohl's, you have to walk ALL THE WAY through the store to get to the Amazon returns desk. It's upstairs, in the back corner. It is impossible to do an Amazon return at Kohl's without walking through tons of merchandise displays.

The one I've done my returns at, near LAX, has it at the front of the store.

So if Amazon and Kohl's have the same item for the same price, you could buy it on Amazon, return it to Kohl's, and then buy it again at a 25% discount?

Seems like hardly worth the hassle but could be nice if that promotion lasts.

Kohl's is king of overpricing items to then offer massive sales through "Kohl's points", coupons, etc. Their retail prices are B.S. I don't know anyone that pays retail at Kohl's - people shop there to brag about how much of a 'deal' they're getting, which isn't much of a deal at all.

Kohl's also reprices many of their products on a daily basis. I used to be a repricer. I would walk through every night for hours changing the price labels on all the stands. That's why they have updated so many of their price labels to be electronic.

Generally yes, but you can stack discounts often if you play the game. Things like shoes on clearance can end up at 15% of their original price- I've gotten a wide variety of stuff like that.

Now my wife on the other hand, will usually end up just with Kohls Cash and maybe 20% off, so it ends up fairly meh in the wash.

Kohls is likely only the same price with the 25% discount and your Kohl's credit card.

It's probably restricted so that certain items and brands do not qualify.

Plus the returns area is in the back corner for the store near me, thus maximizing the chance you might see something you end-up purchasing impulsively.

Though, if I am going by Stretechery's aggregator theory (https://stratechery.com/2017/amazons-new-customer/) I am not sure how Khol's is going to get anywhere in the long run competing with Amazon as an aggregator, even with the increased foot traffic.

It brings people into their stores. If n% of people returning an Amazon package look around Kohl's while they are there, it's a win.

I haven’t been to Kohl’s since my mom was buying me clothes for school (12 years ago) but I do buy stuff on Amazon and return it.

I might end up in Kohl’s again soon.

Because getting customers into a store is half the battle. The offchance they make a purchase, even that overpriced 2 dollar soda, is a win for Kohl's. It is all traffic and business they might not otherwise have.

Doesn't change your point, which makes great sense. Kohl's, though, is mostly clothes and shoes, with a smattering of small appliances and luggage. It's not a department store really.

And clothes and shoes are actually the things I'm most likely to buy in a store.

This has been at least a short-term win for Kohl's. They've seen improved revenue since starting this partnership [1].

In the long term if Amazon decides it needs a lot of real-estate fairly quickly it could do worse than to buy a company with a lot of existing square footage it's already working with. This would probably deliver a win for Kohl's shareholders.

[1] https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/amazon-was-killing-kohls-o...

> This makes a ton of sense for Amazon, but not as much for Kohls. Why would I want to make returns easier for one of my competitors?

Kohl's also has Amazon boutiques; they see both this and the returns as a way to drive floor traffic that they expect they can monetize.

I wonder how prepared Amazon is for return fraud. Having a 3rd party accept the returns, locally, makes them a more attractive target.

Surprised you don't see this. A big issue with online clothes shopping is buying it sight unseen. By returning clothing there, people may just say to heck with it and buy comparable clothes at Kohl's, since they can try them on and see them prepurchase.

There are several Amazon lockers within a couple blocks of my apartment. Returning stuff to Amazon is much easier than returning stuff to any brick and mortar store.

There are not 'competitors' in business, only 'interests.' -Folke Kafka, professor of business administration, University of Pittsburgh.

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