The U.S. e-commerce explosion is driving about $150 billion annually in returns, and Returnly is riding the trend with a service to eliminate the waiting time for consumers to receive funds from items they plan to return to the merchant.
San Francisco-based Returnly has won $8 million in Series A funding to expand its service that gives consumers immediate credit for unwanted items, even before they’re shipped back, Returnly said in a Wednesday press release. The funding boost, led by Mundi Ventures and The Venture City, brings Returnly’s total capital raised to more than $11 million.
Returnly’s service enables customers who decide they don’t want an item to get credit for the return to make an immediate purchase from the same merchant without waiting, cutting the waiting time for a refund by days or weeks, depending on third-party payment cycles, according to the release.
Returnly instantly analyzes each shopper’s behavioral risk and assumes the liability for merchants so consumers can make another purchase before the original funds are returned. Customers of participating merchants only need to indicate their intention to return the item on the merchant’s website and are not required to sign in to qualify, Returnly said.
“Modern consumers don’t want to be exposed to the clunky reverse logistics processes that come into play when returning products online,” said Eduardo Vilar, Returnly’s founder and CEO, in the release.
Launched in 2016, Returnly has been working with a handful of online retailers including Fanatics, which sells sports team merchandise, and the shirt company UNTUCKit, among others. Returnly plans to use the new funds to expand to larger merchants and expand its integration with other e-commerce and loyalty platforms, the company said in the release.
Launched in 2016—with additional offices in Madrid—Returnly has issued more than $100 million in credit from returns, the release noted.
