Amazon Will Warn You About Bad Products
Listen to the story (British accent)
Amazon will start to warn shoppers about products that are often returned. The company will put a warning label on products that people frequently return. Amazon wants shoppers to check the product details and product reviews before buying something.
Amazon’s main goal is to reduce unnecessary returns.
Currently, Amazon shoppers can return unused items up to 30 days after purchase. It is often free for the customer to return an item, too.
Recently, there are more low-quality products, counterfeit products, products with fake reviews, and products with wrong descriptions on Amazon. If Amazon puts a warning label on these types of products, fewer people will buy them. If fewer people buy the products, maybe the sellers will try to improve their offers.
Free returns are also bad for the environment. If a product is returned it is transported again by truck and then stored in a warehouse until it is sold or sent to a landfill.
The number of returns increased during the coronavirus pandemic and is still high. Amazon also wants to reduce returns because it is expensive to process them. The company has already cut 27,000 jobs this year to reduce costs.
Amazon has not announced when the warning label will be available in all countries and regions.
Vocabulary28 words
- Warn
- to tell someone about something bad or dangerous that might happen; alert; notify
- Product
- something that is made to be sold or used by people; things you buy in a shop
- Return
- to give back or take something back to a store or place where it came from
- Warning label
- label/tag/message on a product that tells people about possible dangers
- Frequently
- regularly; often; repeatedly
- Details
- specific and important information about something
- Review
- a report that has important information about a product, service, or particular subject; a short article/report that someone writes expressing their opinion about something
- Reduce
- to make less; make smaller; decrease; bring down; shrink
- Unnecessary
- something not needed or not required
- Unused
- something that has not been used; new
- Item
- a single object or thing; one piece
- Low-quality
- something that is not made very well, or not very good; cheap
- Counterfeit
- something that is fake, usually a copy of something valuable or important
- Fake
- something that is not real or genuine
- Description
- an explanation/clarification that tells people what something is like or how it works
- Offer
- proposal; the package, product, or service available for sale
- Environment
- the natural world, the place we live, the area around us, nature
- Transport
- to move goods or people from one place to another
- Store
- to keep; to hold; stow
- Warehouse
- a large building where products or goods are stored/kept;
- Landfill
- an area where garbage/trash is collected and put under the ground and/or piled up
- Pandemic
- when a disease or sickness goes all over the country or world
- Process
- a procedure; a series of actions that you do to achieve a result/finish something; operation
- Cut
- to reduce the amount or number of something; to let go; to fire; to lay off
- Costs
- the amount of money needed for a business or to do a particular job; money spent to operate a business
- Announce
- share information openly; to tell the public; to make a statement; to report
- Available
- able to be used: ready for use; accessible
- Region
- a large area of the Earth; an area of land with similar qualities/characteristics
Discussion questions
- Do you think Amazon's warning label will be effective in reducing unnecessary returns? Why or why not?
- How important are product reviews to you when shopping online? Why?
- What do you think Amazon could do to improve its return policy and reduce unnecessary returns?
- Should companies be responsible for the environmental impact of their return policies? Why or why not?
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