Should Walmart Reinstate In-Store Returns During A Pandemic?

Although public health officials say it’s unlikely COVID-19 infections can be spread by surfaces or physical objects, retailers are being cautious about how they handle returned merchandise. “This is a tricky issue that retailers are going to be grappling with for the foreseeable future. No doubt consumers have become accustomed to 100% returns, no questions asked, for a long time. However, the pandemic has rightly changed that. Retailers have no way of knowing if returned merchandise has been contaminated, and so limiting returns is reasonable,” says Mark Ryski, Founder and CEO, HeadCount Corporation.