Our Kohl’s has recently redesigned its checkout area to be the central point of service for all transactions. This includes purchases, of course, but also Kohl’s store returns, online order pickup and returns, Amazon returns, and Shopify returns. When I arrived at the store as it opened to process my return, there were already 16 people in line — none of whom were buying anything.
The line moved slowly as the cashiers encountered several bottlenecks. There were only two Amazon scanners, even though more than two people had those types of returns. My cashier did not know how to process Shopify returns, so another left her post to train her. The clerks were confused as to which box returns should be placed in. It was maddening for all.
When I received my return confirmation receipt, it included a coupon for 20% off on my next Kohl’s purchase. I threw it away, not because I couldn’t put it to use, but because I was not going to wait in this long return line to buy something.
I believe Kohl’s needs to decide if it is a store or a return depot. While they are undoubtedly benefiting financially from processing all these return transactions and from driving traffic to their stores, the current setup seems to drive people away from buying there. Before you consider add-on services, think twice about how it will impact your core purpose and return to that.
