Figuring out how and where to return Amazon orders could get easier for some customers, and FedEx Office locations nationwide will play a key part.
Amazon announced that it added 1,500 FedEx Office locations to its network of return vendors, pushing the total number of U.S. drop-off points past 10,000 and giving four out of five Amazon customers a return location within five miles of home, according to the ecommerce giant. The collaboration marks a new chapter in FedEx and Amazon’s relationship. In 2019, FedEx ended contracts to provide Express and Ground delivery for Amazon orders.
Amazon ranks No. 1 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 2000 Database. The database is how Digital Commerce 360 tracks the largest North American online retailers by their annual ecommerce sales.
Amazon is also No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database. That database ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).
Close to half of the Top 2000 retailers in North America use FedEx as a shipping carrier, according to Digital Commerce 360 data.
How FedEx will help Amazon expand free returns options in the U.S.
“Convenience doesn’t end once you place your order,” said Gopal Pillai, vice president of returns and recommerce at Amazon, in a press release. “We work hard to help customers find products they’ll love and use, but like any retailer, sometimes a return is needed — and when that happens, we want the experience to be seamless.”
The move will make participating FedEx Office locations in the U.S. available for customers to drop off qualifying Amazon orders using the online retailer’s free, label-free, shipping box-free return option. That will place FedEx Office sites among locations including Whole Foods Market, UPS Store, Kohl’s and Staples facilities that also accept the return drop-offs.
Deidre Popovich, associate professor of marketing at Texas Tech University, said Amazon’s move to expand its “no box/no tape/no label” returns is aimed at reducing consumer difficulty at the point in the purchase process where shoppers may be most likely to feel regret.
“This expanded return policy helps to protect conversion and consumer loyalty,” Popovich said.
She added that returns are becoming an increasingly important consideration for omnichannel retailing.
What Amazon stands to gain
“Amazon is essentially ‘borrowing’ physical presence by partnering with brick-and-mortar locations,” Popovich explained. “This strategy helps make returns a routine errand for consumers rather than a separate hassle or chore.”
Popovich noted that the convenience of the return locations may also help to drive foot traffic to partner stores, making the arrangement a win-win for Amazon and its return partners.
“Amazon is trying to accomplish a few things with this strategy,” she stated. “First, it is working to set a higher expectation for consumer convenience. Second, it is attempting to consolidate returns into fewer, even more efficient streams via QR-code drop-off. It is also working to deepen its logistics capabilities via external partnerships.”
Popovich said that other retailers, even Walmart, will have difficulty competing with no-box returns without significant logistics investments.
In addition, she sees the new policy potentially rippling into B2B circles as well.
“It means carriers and marketplaces will continue to compete heavily on how they handle returns and on their specific re-commerce strategies,” she said. “Returns are already massive economically, so any additional investments that can help streamline reverse logistics will impact B2C as well as B2B channels.”
Popovich cited National Retail Federation numbers that showed $849.9 billion in total retail returns for 2025.
Amazon’s long-term plans
Daniel Cunningham, founder and CEO of Shiplo, a freight platform based in Coppell, Texas, said the expansion with FedEx is a continuation of Amazon’s long-term strategy to eliminate every point of resistance in the buying and post-purchase experience.
“Returns are one of the last major friction points in ecommerce, and they are now turning that into a competitive advantage,” Cunningham noted.
He added that from an omnichannel perspective, this approach to returns further blurs the line between digital and physical retail.
“Amazon is leveraging physical drop-off networks — like Whole Foods, UPS Stores and partners — as extensions of its digital experience,” he said. “This is not just logistics; it is ecosystem design.”
Cunningham expects that Walmart — Amazon’s nearest competitor — will likely try to emulate the model in some form.
“But the challenge is not the feature itself — it is the infrastructure required to support it at scale,” he explained. “Amazon has spent decades building dense return networks, reverse logistics capabilities and cost-absorption models that most retailers simply do not have.”
The real question, Cunningham said, is not whether others can copy the experience — it is whether they can support the economics behind it.
“Returns are no longer a cost center — they are part of the customer acquisition and retention strategy,” Cunningham stated.
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