UPS-owned Happy Returns expands network to 10,000 drop-off locations

United Parcel Service subsidiary Happy Returns has reached 10,000 drop-off locations wherever shoppers tin instrumentality e-commerce purchases, making the retail returns process much convenient portion improving economics for 1 of the nation’s largest consolidated returns networks.

Happy Returns announced connected Tuesday that it has added 1,700 locations astatine Annex Brands and PackageHub Business Centers to its web of stores that judge box-free and label-free returns. The institution present has 10,000 instrumentality counters, including astatine UPS Stores (NYSE: UPS), Staples and Ulta Beauty outlets. The storefronts payment from the ft postulation and transaction revenue.

According to the company, 79% of the U.S. colonisation present lives wrong 5 miles of a alleged Return Bar, up from 76% previously. Additionally, much than a 4th of Americans present unrecorded wrong 1 mile of a convenient drop-off location.

“With these authorized shipping outlets, we’re filling successful sum gaps to trim the driving clip successful galore states, wherever radical are much babelike connected vehicles and cars” than successful municipality areas, said Chief Operating Officer Juan Hernandez Campos, successful a telephone interview.

“We deliberation that the much convenient the location, the much idiosyncratic is going to beryllium consenting to marque that instrumentality faster, too. If you’re agonizing astir making that 30 infinitesimal thrust successful traffic, you mightiness postpone. We are incentivizing the shopper to instrumentality that happening sooner,” which helps retailers resell it, helium added.

An estimated 19.3% of online lines successful the U.S. were returned successful 2025, according to a study by the National Retail Federation and Happy Returns. Retailers study that online returns are 21% higher than wide instrumentality rates.

The bulk of e-commerce returns successful the United States impact a parcel bearer shipping statement provided by the retailer and are shipped individually from postulation points wherever customs driblet items. The bearer delivers instrumentality packages, on with different inbound packages, to the retailer’s fulfillment center.

Individual parcel returns are much communal with smaller merchants, but consolidation is becoming the ascendant exemplary — particularly for ample retailers, said Chris Sheridan, manager of proviso concatenation services astatine parcel shipping consultancy LJM.

“Returns contiguous aren’t truly one-size-fits-all anymore. Many ample retailers are pushing returns done consolidation networks archetypal and past moving them successful bulk. It’s mostly astir cutting costs, improving processing efficiency, and handling reverse logistics astatine scale,” said Sheridan, who spent 34 years astatine UPS.

Other returns consolidation platforms, specified arsenic Loop Returns and Narvar, are besides gathering networks of drop-off points wherever returns are sorted and sent backmost to the retailer successful pallets oregon reusable containers. FedEx past outpouring launched its ain no-box, no-label consolidated returns work called Easy Returns. It has astir 3,000 driblet spots astatine FedEx Office and Kohl’s outlets.