Walmart is offering shoppers a more generous holiday returns policy than its rival Amazon. Walmart told sellers: “From October 1 through December 31, 2024, all items purchased in-store or online can be returned until January 31, 2025 – excluding wireless phones, Walmart protection plans, AppleCare, precious metals, and luxury items.”
Amazon had a similar October 1 window during the pandemic, but returned to its November 1st kickoff window last year, and is keeping that window in 2024.
Walmart told sellers that the return window would be automatically updated on their listings and offered the following advice:
- Include packing slips with all your items to streamline returns.
- Offer free in-store and online returns for eligible items.
- Increase cost-efficiency by offering Keep it, Partial Keep it, and Replacement options. You can enable these return rules in Seller Center.
- Review Post-Purchase Quality insights via the Listing Quality dashboard to help you optimize based on the experiences of your customers.
Sellers are generally not fans of extra-generous return windows – and in the case of Walmart’s policy, it means Halloween purchases can be returned as late as January 31, 2025.
