The Association of e-Commerce Market Participants (AUREK) has taken the initiative to fix a list of goods for online platforms, the return of which will be prohibited after purchase. The logic of the proposal is related to the fact that in offline retail such a list has been in effect for a long time, and in remote trading sellers face purchasing scenarios that increase costs and create conflicts around the quality and safety of goods.
Evgenia Chernitskaya, Executive Director of AUREK, formulated the association's position as follows:
"Extending the list of non—returnable goods to remote trading will protect bona fide sellers from abuse and equalize conditions for all retail formats," she said.
The industry pays attention to categories where the risk of "one-time use" is particularly high: underwear, appliances, jewelry. Upon return, the seller receives direct losses on logistics, verification, markdown and storage, as well as reputational risks if the goods are returned in a disputed condition.
Possible changes are of practical importance for the foreign economic activity market. Imported goods are often linked to certification, labeling, and package requirements. Returns increase the load on warehouses, create additional movements along the chain and complicate batch accounting. If a single "non-returnable" contour appears, sellers will be able to plan stocks more precisely, reduce the share of disputed transactions and increase the predictability of the financial cycle.
A separate layer is the pick—up points for orders. AUREK emphasizes that the association's proposals were discussed together with the sellers and owners of the PVZ and included in the materials for regulators. This means that the discussion is conducted in conjunction with "goods — return — logistics — last-mile service", and the final standards may affect the processes of acceptance, inspection and fixation of the condition of the goods.
The implementation scenario will depend on the wording of the law and the list of categories. It is important for businesses to prepare regulations in advance: notifications in the card, rules for opening packages, photo fixation, and warranty conditions. Then regulation can reduce conflict and remove some of the costs from the e-sales chain.
