In what is believed as a push to increase sales through its online store Apple has cut the time it takes to get a refund for a product purchased through its website. Previously it took 10 days to get a refund for a returned product, now customers who buy a product from the Apple online store can get a refund in under one week. It may be a small step but it could prove to be useful in getting more people to buy directly from the company’s website.
Apple’s online store faces no shortage of competition. Third party retailers of all sizes sell Apple products online, some even offer small discounts on products on bring in more customers. Despite that the online store contributes a significant chunk to the company’s revenue.
Even though Amazon is the undisputed front runner in online retail, only recently it was estimated that Apple has taken the second spot from Staples in worldwide online sales. The estimate didn’t include sales by third party retailers and only accounted products sold through Apple’s online store.
Faster processing of refunds is possible due to use of an expedited service, FedEx 2Day, that lets customers ship items with prepaid labels to its warehouse in three days. Initially it may be a big expense for Apple to pay for the expedited service but they move may very well pay off in the long run as it contributes to the growth of direct online sales.
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