Staples Begins Accepting Amazon Returns Amid Expansion of In-Store Services

All Staples retail stores in the United States will soon be handling returns for Amazon customers.

About half of the office supply retailer’s locations are doing so now, and the rest will begin accepting Amazon returns by the end of July, Staples said in a Thursday (June 29) press release.

“While many Americans know Staples for back-to-school shopping, our suite of in-store services continues to expand,” Craig Grayson, senior vice president of services at Staples US Retail, said in the release. “We look forward to offering a fast and convenient return experience while showcasing our evolution to American customers.”

In this new program, Staples stores will accept eligible unpackaged, unlabeled Amazon returns at no charge, according to the press release.

Customers can drop off the items at a store’s full-service shipping area and will receive a coupon that they can use on a wide range of products and services in the store that day, the release said.

Staples has nearly 1,000 stores, with a location within 10 miles of more than half of the American population, per the release.

“We’re thrilled to offer nearly 1,000 additional drop-off locations in the U.S. for Amazon customer returns in collaboration with Staples,” Gopal Pillai, vice president of worldwide returns and reCommerce at Amazon, said in the release. “Our goal is to make buying online as easy as possible, and we know that some items don’t always work out as planned, which is why we work hard to continue to raise the bar in offering a hassle-free returns experience to our customers.”

Handling returns for other companies’ customers is not a new service at Staples. The firm began working with PayPal’s Happy Returns in 2021, offering in-person return services for online shoppers.

The companies said at the time that returns are an essential part of the shopping experience, that shoppers prefer to return items without a box and in person, and that both shoppers and merchants need convenient return solutions.

Happy Returns said in October 2022 that 54% of consumers who have purchased items online would prefer to drop off their returns at a retailer — either the store where they purchased it or a third-party retailer — rather than having to box up the item and return it via mail or a scheduled home pick-up.

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