Affirm Sunsets Returnly and Directs Merchants Use Loop

Affirm is sunsetting Returnly and transitioning the merchants using that platform to Loop.

Returnly, which was acquired by buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider Affirm in 2021 and offers shoppers a self-service online returns experience, will be closed by early October, Affirm said in a Thursday (July 6) blog post.

“This partnership with Loop and the divestiture of the Returnly business will allow Affirm to take an even deeper focus on driving strong growth and profitability in our core business, serving our merchant and platform partners with world-class payments and technology solutions, accelerating our direct-to-consumer offerings, and building on our deep capabilities in underwriting and decisioning,” Affirm Chief Revenue Officer Wayne Pommen said in the post.

With the sunsetting of Returnly, Affirm has named Loop as the preferred returns provider for merchants who are using the platform, according to the blog post. The two companies will work together to transition the merchants to Loop.

This strategic partnership will add more than 1,500 merchants currently using Returnly to the more than 2,200 that are using Loop, according to a Thursday blog post by Loop CEO Jonathan Poma.

“Joining Loop’s platform will positively impact your business by delivering meaningful cost savings — from reducing refunds to optimizing your reverse logistics processes,” Poma said in the post, addressing merchants who are now using Returnly. “You’ll also experience enhanced operational efficiency, and your customers will enjoy a seamless, convenient and personalized returns and exchange experience.”

Affirm announced in April 2021 that it had struck a deal to acquire Returnly for $300 million in cash and equity.

The deal happened at a time when consumers had turned to eCommerce as never before, spurred on by the pandemic, and the number of eCommerce returns had skyrocketed, PYMNTS reported at the time.

Affirm had invested in Returnly two years earlier, in 2019, because of its technology that helped merchants “remove friction from returns, drive loyalty and retain more customers,” Affirm CEO Max Levchin said at the time.

During an Affirm earnings call held in February — when the growth rates for BNPL were decelerating and the company had reduced its staff by 19% and shuttered some operations — Levchin said the company was working to refocus on its core business.