A new initiative from La Poste makes it easier to return parcels to users: the service is free but is controversial.
In recent years, shopping online has become commonplace. This mode of consumption is even favored by consumers in many cases. However, of all packages shipped, a third returns to their sender. This is considerable. This is why La Poste offers users a new free service which allows them to return orders they are not satisfied with more easily and quickly. How ? The idea is quite disconcerting…
This new service appeared in four different offices in Paris, in Lannion and one in La Rochelle in the town hall post office. The concept is to install a fitting room within the office to allow customers to try on their purchases directly on site. If the item is not suitable, users simply close the package and leave it in the hands of staff, who will return it to the sender.
On France 3 Nouvelle Aquitaine, the director of the La Rochelle Post Office, Sandrine Theuns-Guittard, explains that “if that doesn’t suit you, you have tape at your disposal to rewrap your package.” And clearly, the service is appreciated. One customer interviewed believes that it is “practical to try on site and return the package if it does not suit me”. The director of a Paris post office where such a booth was also installed explains to Centre Presse Aveyron that the staff “noticed that people were coming to pick up packages and, an hour later, bring them back.” For her, this service is “a time saver (…) and it’s really original”. The aim of this new free service is, according to La Poste, a desire to stand out in a context where the parcel market is very competitive.
This idea, however, does not delight everyone. Speaking to France 3 Nouvelle Aquitaine, Simon Laumonier, co-founder of the Origin thrift store based near Poitiers, regrets that in this context where “parcels are a booming market, it is the one who will have the contracts from the American giants”. The entrepreneur specializing in second-hand fashion says he is perplexed by such a service which could call into question the place of local shops.
Same observation for the Confederation of French Traders which expressed in a press release that this initiative of La Poste “causes deep discontent among local independent traders and presents serious risks for the local economic fabric if it is deployed on a large scale. national”. Faced with these concerns, La Poste declared to AFP that “the objective is not at all to oppose city center traders, but on the contrary to create traffic” but also to “simplify life of our customers”.