PayPal announced the launch of its PayPal Refunded Return service in South Africa, following the launch of the service in 33 countries and the findings from a recent study conducted by IPSOS for PayPal. The research confirmed that South African consumers see free return shipping as a significant added value and crucial when making a decision whether or not to purchase an item online.

With this launch, regardless of the reason for the return, users that ordered a product and paid for it via PayPal can return it and get a refund for the return shipping, enjoying an even more convenient and more secure shopping experience when buying the products from merchants from all over the world. Moreover, this way PayPal extends its buyers protection and protects the consumers from the purchase to the return.

The philosophy of PayPal’s Refunded Return service, which enables making purchases without any concerns, already proved to be the right solution in countries such as France, Spain, Italy and Sweden, where it effectively encourages consumers to fully enjoy the opportunities that e-commerce offers.

The South African e-Consumer

There is great potential for e-commerce to grow, since, as the research indicates, consumers would be willing to buy even more if not for their concerns about purchasing goods online and being anxious about whether or not they can return them as well as the cost of the shipment back. Changing this approach and providing customers with more shopping confidence is the cornerstone of PayPal's buyer protection, now extended to PayPal Refunded Return service.

Return shipping costs represent an important factor when buying online, even more so when talking about cross border shopping, with 78% of South African online shoppers saying that free return shipping would drive them to shop more online from another country.

“Since consumers can now buy almost everything from everywhere without leaving the house or office, it is not surprising that they expect better service, safer payment options, the assurance that what they buy is what they will get and an easy way to return items,” says PayPal’s Regional director for Africa and Israel, Efi Dahan.

 This is not only good news for consumers but also for South African merchants. With this being one of the main barriers to online and cross border shopping, merchants that use PayPal as a payment method have a competitive advantage and become more attractive to customers worldwide helping them eliminate their concerns, especially considering that the service is free for both consumers and businesses.

 With e-commerce becoming more regional and global especially for consumers in Africa, solutions such as PayPal Refunded Return service have almost instantaneously became a new norm. Identifying and implementing such value-added solutions is not just a matter of competitiveness, but a way to create more trust and consumer protection to encourage growth of e-commerce across the African continent as well.

Not right? Not a problem

Users that ordered a product and paid for it via PayPal can return it regardless of the reason and get a refund for the shipping, up to 400 Rand and 4 times per year (the refund will be paid out in US dollars). The only thing one has to remember regarding the reimbursement is to keep the posting receipts. Then, the three easy steps towards getting the refund consist of:

1. Activate the free service on our dedicated landing page: https://www.paypal.com/za/webapps/mpp/refunded-returns/
2. Create a claim: send us your receipts and the claim form within 14 days of returning your purchase.
3. Get your refund: your refund will be credited to your PayPal account within 5 business days from notice of approval of your request for refund.

Thanks to the new functionality, after completing this short procedure, the refund will appear on the PayPal account as fast as in the next 10 days. This way, even if returning products such as clothing and accessories will always exists due to the size issues or for other reasons, it won’t be a problem for consumers and sellers anymore. In the initial test period, the PayPal Refunded Return service will be active until 31^st of December 2015.

For more information about PayPal Refunded Return service visit:

https://www.paypal.com/za/webapps/mpp/refunded-returns/