"Without Question or Argument" ... E-commerce, Now the 'Return War'

Coupang·Shinsegae TV Free Same-Day Pickup
Fresh Food Not Collected, Redelivery Offered

[Asia Economy reporters Jo In-kyung and Im Chun-han] "We accept returns on fresh food products without any questions or conditions."

On the 5th, e-commerce companies simultaneously entered a return service competition. Beyond convenience, the competition for immediate returns and same-day return services?without even the time to inspect the returned items?has begun in earnest.

The leader in the return service competition is Coupang. Coupang offers free return services for Rocket Delivery (direct purchase) products to paid members of the 'Rocket Wow Membership.' For general merchandise, free returns are possible within 30 days, and a new product is shipped before the return process is completed. For fresh food products, customers are instructed to discard the items instead of returning them.

Shinsegae TV Shopping started a 'same-day return and exchange pickup' service nationwide this month for products shipped via direct courier. The time required from exchange request to refund and reshipment has been reduced from an average of 4 days to 2 days.

SSG.com also offers refunds for fresh food items such as fruits and vegetables, as well as its own ready-to-eat meal products, if customers are dissatisfied.

Gmarket, Auction, and G9, operated by eBay Korea, provide fast refund services. Once the customer submits a refund reason and the shipment status is confirmed, the seller refunds the payment immediately before receiving the returned product.

Auction offers free returns within 3 days for products purchased from the fresh food specialty section 'Farmer Story,' provided that more than 50% of the purchased product remains. G9 has also introduced a 'free return if it tastes bad' service for products in the 'Fresh Earth' specialty section, allowing refunds or returns.

An e-commerce industry insider said, "With improved return services, a new online shopping culture is taking root where customers buy multiple sizes of clothing at once, wear only the ones that fit, and return the rest."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.