Returnly Raises $19M To Help Retailers Handle Returns

Returnly, the post-purchase payments company, announced on Tuesday (April 17) that it has raised $19 million in venture funding.

In a press release, the company said the Series B round of funding was led by Craft Ventures, the venture capital fund co-founded by serial entrepreneur David Sacks. Affirm and existing investors also participated in the round of funding. Returnly said it will use proceeds from the fundraising to help retailers compete against Amazon by growing its merchant services and expanding its product offering.

Returnly partners with retailers to help them remove any friction related to returns. It lets shoppers make new purchases using return credit before shipping the original items back and settles the new order in real time, essentially taking on the product return risk for the retailers.

“In the age of Amazon, shoppers expect every interaction with a brand to be fast and easy – including post-purchase,” said Jeff Fluhr, general partner at Craft Ventures, who was previously CEO/co-founder of StubHub, a ticketing marketplace that is now a multi-billion-dollar subdivision of eBay. “Returnly gives shoppers the instant and seamless returns experience they have come to expect. For the thousands of retailers competing with Amazon, Returnly levels the playing field while increasing revenue and improving customer loyalty.” As part of the round of funding, Fluhr will join Returnly’s board of directors.

According to the company, as online sales in the U.S. are increasing at a 15 percent rate and are predicted to surpass $600 billion this year, 25 percent to 30 percent of orders are returned – three times higher than offline purchases. That presents a $180 billion market in which retailers can improve how they deal with customers, boosting loyalty and sales.

“Successful retailers focus relentlessly on improving the customer experience, and streamlining payments continues to be a very important part of their strategy,” said Max Levchin, founder of Affirm, in the press release. “For much of my career, I’ve focused on improving payments at the point of sale, but what attracted me to Returnly was their shrewd focus on the post-purchase experience. Post-purchase is an increasingly important component of the shopper lifecycle, and Returnly is helping retailers optimize it.”