Yesterday, PayPal announced its acquisition of Happy Returns for an undisclosed amount. Happy Returns, according to Crunchbase, has raised a total of $25 million. Notably, PayPal Ventures participated in Happy Returns’ most recent $11 million venture round.
The 120-person, Santa Monica-based company operates a network of over 2,600 drop-off locations which allows customers to take their returns in-person, avoiding hassle and stress over shipping. PayPal’s acquisition of Happy Returns will expand the number of stores and make it easier, cost-effective and environmentally friendly for consumer’s to return items.
The return process through the company removes the need for shipping labels, boxes and gives shoppers their money back immediately; this removes overhead for SME retailers and builds loyalty with consumers.
Happy Returns currently operates in every U.S. state, and works with a large network of over 31 million retailers in its networks. Paypal’s acquisition could be a massive win for small business, especially when it comes to competing with megaliths such as Amazon.
The payment processing giant has recently been making a push at retail shopping, with Frank Keller, senior vice president of consumer in-store and digital commerce at PayPal telling CNBC, “The post-purchase experience is something we’ve been looking into, since it’s such a pain point — people want to shop online and return in store, and vice versa.”
Paypal shares have risen 66% in the past 12 months, following key acquisitions and new services that have focused on online shopping growth. The company recently acquired Honey, a browser extension that finds online shopping coupons, for $4 billion in late 2019. It also acquired Curv, a cryptocurrency security company in March for $200 million USD.