Simon Property Group is partnering with customer experience platform Narvar to facilitate easier and more convenient returns for customers shopping at mall locations. The service will enable shoppers to drop off returns for nearly 24 retail brands at 80,000 participating Simon locations.

“Despite our deep roots in eCommerce, we’ve always believed in the persistent power of physical retail,” Amit Sharma, founder and CEO of Narvar. The company works with more than 800 retailers, which includes several big-name brands such as Sephora, Patagonia, Levi’s, Bose, Warby Parker, Home Depot, LVMH, and L’Oréal.

According to recent research from Narvar, one-third of consumers used an alternative location to make their last return. For 30 percent to 40 percent of these consumers, the convenience of location and hours is of the essence when dropping off returns. Forty-one percent of consumers like to consolidate their errands into one trip. Moreover, consumers’ desire and use of printer-free returns has more than doubled since last year, with 27 percent of consumers using a mobile QR code to make their last return.

“Our properties continue to be a town square destination for the communities they serve,” said Andy Hutcherson, Simon’s senior vice president of innovation and customer experience in a press release. 

The partnership comes at a time when consumers are shopping more online for their holiday gifts and expect a more seamless and convenient buying and return experience. A surge will follow the end of this year’s holiday shopping season in the volume of online returns in the months of January and February — a trend that has been observed year after year, which makes the partnership between the two firms timely.