Customer Service

Swap.com taps Tern to boost the product return experience

Photo by istock.com

April 4, 2022

Swap.com, an online consignment and thrift shop, is teaming up with Tern, a commerce technology provider, to make product returns more convenient.

The news comes on the heels of Tern, a Bay area startup, raising $5 million in seed funding, led by Resolute Ventures and Rajesh Ramanad with participation from Tekton Ventures, Partech Partners, OVO Group and Cyber Mentor Fund, as well as a number of industry veteran angel investors, according to a press release.

Tern provides a home pickup service that addresses the packing, printing and transportation pain points inherent in the "first mile" of a return. For merchants, the company presents an efficiency play as well. By minimizing the trips that an item has to make during a return, Tern provides merchants with both economic and environmental benefits throughout the supply chain.

"The way that we shop has evolved but the returns process is still catching up," Skye Spear, co-founder and CEO at Tern, said in the release. "Merchants and consumers both benefit from making returns as consumer-focused as the shopping experience is today. Shoppers want the convenience to make returns from home — they try more brands and purchase more frequently from their favorites when they have the option of Tern's home pickup service. Merchants benefit from having happier customers on the front end, while Tern provides customer, product and logistical intelligence to minimize carbon and other return related costs on the back end."

Through the partnership, Swap.com will use Tern's home pickup service to give consignment clients a hassle-free pickup option to facilitate the sale of items on the Swap.com marketplace. Swap.com clients will also be able to use the Tern pickup service to simplify the return process for items purchased on Swap.com, and is one of the steps Swap.com is taking to make its customer experience more seamless and prioritizing customer experience across the platform.

"One of the things that sets Swap.com apart from other consignment platforms is our relationship with our clients," Antonio Gallizio, board member and chief commercial officer at Swap.com, said in the release. "Through our partnership with Tern, providing a home pickup service for consignment and return gives Swap.com just one more way to connect with our customers."

Prior to launch, Tern trialed its home pickup service through an invite-only beta within the San Francisco Bay area.