Kohl’s begins removing Amazon returns from some locations, Pittsburgh not among them yet
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PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — The Kohl’s Department Store has announced that they are going to stop taking Amazon returns, at least temporarily, so what will the impact be in the Pittsburgh area?
At the Kohl’s Department Store in Robinson Township, they’re still taking Amazon returns. This all began as a pilot program in 2017 when the store took Amazon returns, and then by 2019, all of their locations were taking returns, including in Robinson Township.
Initially, according to Kohl’s, it was a huge success. Foot traffic went up by the tens of millions across their stores.
Their main target was younger shoppers.
“You have to walk all the way to the back just to get to it,” said one customer. “You might see something that catches your eye, you might want to buy it, it’s a good marketing scheme if you ask me.”
The question is, did that marketing add to the company’s bottom line?
“I suspect that they’ve had financial trouble,” explained Elaine Luther, a professor of business management at Point Park University. “So, they said that they’re going to do tests, and they like to test to see, but I already have questions because I was a financial analyst, but they said that they were going to do it to improve their customer experience. Yet, they quoted the fact that associates were happy, so that sounds like they were more concerned about company-centric than customer-centric.”
Indeed, Kohl’s financials show that sales have gone down for the past 12 quarters. Could that be the reason for the test? Kohl’s doesn’t say.
What we do know is that this current test is only in three towns in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Missouri. For now, no stores in the Pittsburgh area, but should it come to our area, it could be an issue.
“It’s the only thing that brings me into the store,” said Claudia Metcalfe. “It’s convenience, I don’t have to box it up and send it anywhere, I can just bring it in and drop it off.”
Now, if you’re a regular Amazon customer, remember, there are two other locations that are currently taking Amazon returns and they are the UPS Store and Staples Office Supply stores. So, even if Kohl’s pulls the plug, at the end of the day, there are still places to take your Amazon returns.
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