Just in time for the peak season’s reverse logistics cycle, UPS Inc. (NYSE: UPS) said late Wednesday that it acquired Happy Returns, a returns management software company, from PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) for an undisclosed sum.
The transaction is set to close during the fourth quarter of 2023, ahead of the peak season’s returns period, which typically starts after Christmas and runs through mid-January. UPS said it will attempt to scale the service to as many locations as possible by the end of the year, a spokesman said.
Founded in 2015 and based in Los Angeles, Happy Returns specializes in no-box, no-label returns. It works with about 800 merchant consumers to facilitate the returns process. UPS will pick up and deliver all returned items.
The transaction expands UPS’ footprint in the fast-growing online returns segment. Demand for returns management solutions has increased along with e-commerce activity. Online returns is a different and more complex process than the traditional return-to-store transaction because there is no fixed store location to accept returned items. In addition, consumers increasingly order multiples of the same product, decide to keep one item and return the rest.
“We know that returns have long frustrated shoppers and retailers looking for quick and easy solutions,” UPS CEO Carol B. Tomé said in a statement announcing the deal. She said that box- and label-free returns will eventually be available at more than 12,000 U.S. drop-off points.
