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At a Cost Plus World Market in Oakland, California, masked shoppers are filing in with their holiday near-misses. They’re not just bringing back Ikat dinnerware and burlap wall art that didn’t quite hit the gifting mark, however. The Happy Returns “bar” within accepts unwanted items from digitally native brands like Eloquii, Everlane, and Rothy’s, which it refunds with a scan of a QR code.
Similar bars in malls, college campuses, and inside stores like World Market across the country are doing an equally brisk trade. Online return rates are three to four times higher than brick-and-mortar stores, David Sobie, the company’s co-founder and CEO, explains. And amid the pandemic, returns, like e-commerce, are surging like never before.