Happy Returns raises $1.9m in seed funding
Happy Returns, the US-based start-up which is building a network of Return Bars where online shoppers can return items in-person and get an immediate refund, has raised $1.9m in seed funding. The Return Bars will be located in brick-and-mortar stores. The theory is that a simpler, more convenient returns process will make consumers more comfortable about buying online – and the participating retailers will benefit from the increase footfall from the consumers coming to the physical stores for their returns.
Happy Returns founder David Sobie and Mark Geller told TechCrunch that the company will make money by charging e-commerce retailers a per-item fee. The fee will cover the cost of shipping the orders back to the retailer (with a margin for Happy Returns) – but it will be less than what it would cost the retailer to pay for return shipping itself since Happy Returns will aggregate multiple returns into a single shipment.
Happy Returns is launching a pilot test with Tradesy that will let its shoppers return orders to a Happy Returns location on the second floor of a Santa Monica Place shopping mall.
Sobie and Geller both have wide online retail experience and they built the in-store return program for HauteLook shoppers to return to Nordstrom Rack.
