Returnless returns make customres feel like they have a friendly relationship with a brand. (TetianaKtv/Shutterstock)
In a nutshell
- Letting customers keep items they try to return, known as “returnless returns,” can significantly boost brand loyalty, repurchase intentions, and positive word-of-mouth.
- These policies work by making customers feel a stronger, more personal connection to the brand, driven by perceptions of warmth, generosity, and trust.
- Returnless returns are most effective when companies don’t require proof, frame decisions as case-specific, cite consumer- or eco-friendly motives, and suggest donating the item instead of discarding it.
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Americans return $816 billion worth of merchandise every year. Most retailers see this as a massive headache, but a few smart ones are turning it into an effective strategy to earn customer trust.
According to new research from the University of Notre Dame, “returnless returns” can boost customer loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, and future purchases. This policy allows customers to keep the products they want to return, but still get a refund.
The study, published in the Journal of Marketing Research, reveals that the practice has exploded in popularity. In 2023, 59% of retail executives used returnless returns, more than double the 26% who used them the previous year.
Companies like Amazon, Walmart, Chewy, and Target have quietly rolled out these policies, often on a case-by-case basis. But until now, no one had studied whether this approach actually makes customers more loyal, or if it’s just an expensive way to cut processing costs.
The answer, it turns out, is both.
The Psychology of Generosity
Researchers conducted nine different studies involving more than 3,000 participants to understand how customers really feel about returnless returns. When companies let customers keep unwanted items, it doesn’t just save on shipping and processing costs; it changes how customers view the brand. The key lies in what psychologists call “brand warmth.”
The study found that returnless returns work because they make customers see the relationship with a company as more personal and friendly, rather than purely business-focused. This shift in perception makes customers view the brand as more caring and trustworthy.
Most business relationships feel transactional. You pay money, you get a product, end of story. But when a company tells you to keep something for free, it feels more like how a friend might treat you. That shift from a business transaction to something more personal and trusting makes customers view the brand as warmer.
Testing the Theory
To test their hypothesis, the researchers designed studies that felt authentic to real shopping experiences. In one experiment, research assistants posed as brand ambassadors for BIC pens on a college campus. Students completed a market research survey and were given a pen as compensation. Some received working pens, while others got pens without ink cartridges.
When students discovered their pens didn’t work, those in the “returnless return” group were told they could keep the broken pen and also receive a working one. Students in the control group simply got a working pen without experiencing any return process.
Students who experienced the returnless return rated BIC significantly higher than those who received working pens from the start. Even getting something for free that they couldn’t use made them like the brand more, simply because of how the company handled the situation.
Another study used 600 online participants who imagined ordering a shirt that they later wanted to return because they received an identical one as a gift. Some were told they could keep the original shirt, others had to return it, and a third group didn’t need to return anything. Those who got to keep the shirt wrote significantly more positive reviews about the brand compared to both other groups.
Communication Strategy
The research revealed that how companies communicate about returnless returns makes a huge difference in customer response. When brands frame the decision as being made on a case-by-case basis rather than as a blanket policy, customers respond even more positively. It makes them feel specially selected rather than like they’re just benefiting from an automatic system.
The reasoning companies give also matters enormously. When brands explained they were offering returnless returns to make customers’ lives better or to promote sustainability, customers showed much higher loyalty than when companies cited cost reduction as the motivation.
What companies suggest customers do with kept items can further boost loyalty. When brands recommended donating unwanted items to charity, customers rated them as even warmer and more trustworthy compared to companies that made no suggestion or recommended throwing items away.
The study found these effects worked across a wide range of products and situations, from embarrassing items like anti-diarrheal medication to everyday products like sweaters and phone chargers. Customer loyalty increased whether the return was needed due to a defective product, the wrong size, or simply customer preference changes.
Requiring customers to provide proof of defects (like photos) eliminated most of the positive effects. This suggests the policy works because it signals trust in customers, and asking for proof undermines that trust signal.
Amazon pioneered the approach in 2019 and implements it selectively. Pet supply company Chewy uses it as a blanket policy and often suggests customers donate unwanted items. Clothing brands like Bombas tell customers to keep, gift, donate, or recycle returned items.
Returnless returns are a powerful tool for building customer relationships. The researchers found that customers who experienced returnless returns showed higher repurchase intentions, gave better ratings, and were more likely to recommend brands to others.
Companies that treat returns as relationship-building opportunities rather than cost centers are tapping into human psychology about trust, generosity, and reciprocity. Treating customers like friends rather than transaction partners goes further for businesses.
Paper Summary
Methodology
The researchers conducted nine experimental studies with over 3,000 total participants using various approaches. Some studies involved real-world scenarios where research assistants posed as brand ambassadors and gave participants actual products to test return experiences. Other studies used online surveys where participants imagined purchasing scenarios. The researchers tested different products (pens, sweaters, medication, phone chargers, food) and various return situations (defective items, wrong size, customer preference changes). They measured outcomes like brand preference, repurchase intentions, positive word-of-mouth, and perceived brand warmth using standard psychological scales.
Results
Participants consistently rated brands higher and showed greater loyalty when companies used returnless returns compared to standard returns or no return situations. The effect was mediated by increased perceptions of “brand warmth” — customers viewed companies as more caring, generous, and trustworthy. The boost in loyalty was strongest when companies: didn’t require proof of defects, framed decisions as case-by-case rather than blanket policies, cited customer-centric or environmental motives rather than cost-cutting, and suggested donating kept items. Effects were consistent across different product types and return scenarios.
Limitations
The studies primarily used hypothetical scenarios and short-term measures of loyalty rather than tracking actual long-term purchasing behavior. The research focused on relatively low-value items and didn’t extensively test high-cost products where returnless policies might not be financially feasible. The studies also didn’t examine potential negative effects like increased fraud or abuse of returnless policies. Most participants were from the United States, limiting generalizability to other cultures.
Funding and Disclosures
The paper does not mention specific funding sources or declare any conflicts of interest. The research appears to have been conducted as part of the authors’ academic work at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.
Publication Information
“Just Keep It: When and Why Returnless Product Returns Foster Brand Support” by John P. Costello and Christopher J. Bechler was published in the Journal of Marketing Research in 2025. The study was submitted as manuscript JMR-24-0349.R2 and represents peer-reviewed academic research. Study data is available at the Open Science Framework repository.
