Amazon is partnered with a number of different companies and brands and owns many companies such as Whole Foods, Abebooks, Audible, and other similar businesses.
However, many customers wonder if Amazon also owns Kohl’s, as they appear to be linked. If you’d like to learn the same thing, keep reading this article to learn more about the information I gathered on this topic!
Does Amazon Own Kohl’s?
Amazon does not own Kohl’s. However, Amazon and Kohl’s have had a partnership since 2019 that allows Amazon customers to process returns for unwanted packages at their local Kohls via an Amazon kiosk. As well, Kohl’s carries a variety of Amazon products in their retail stock, enabling both companies to make money from the partnership.
If you’d like to learn more about why Kohl’s and Amazon are affiliated with each other, how each company makes money off of the partnership, and more, keep reading this article for more useful facts and tips!
Is Kohl’s Affiliated With Amazon?
While Amazon does not own Kohl’s, they do have a partnership with Kohl’s. In all Kohl’s stores, Amazon has order return kiosks where customers can return their packages instead of having to process the return through Amazon.com.
As well, Kohl’s stocks Amazon house brands in their regular store stock, enabling Amazon to gain more sales on their brands and allowing Kohl’s to further expand their stock.
Additionally, by having customers bring their returns to Kohl’s, Amazon isn’t required to send as many drivers out to pick up packages, which saves Amazon money due to the smaller amount of money they have to turn out in order to pay for transportation.
Why Did Amazon Team Up With Kohl’s?
Amazon and Kohl’s teamed up with the goal of driving more foot traffic into Kohl’s stores.
When Kohl’s began expanding their stores outside of malls, the company noticed a lack of customer response for its standalone stores.
However, teaming up with Amazon and providing a mail return service gives customers more incentive to go to Kohl’s and has proven to be effective since this deal originally fell into place.
As well, Amazon has also derived some benefits from partnering with Kohl’s, as having a package return center in Kohl’s stores enables Amazon to cut back on package pick-ups, saving money on transportation and reducing their carbon footprint.
Does Kohl’s Make Money Off of Amazon Returns?
Kohl’s doesn’t make money directly from the Amazon packages that they send out, as customers are still required to process a return and refund request through Amazon.com.
However, every time a customer brings an Amazon package to Kohl’s for return, they receive a Kohl’s coupon, which gives the customers an extra incentive to come back to Kohl’s.
Also, according to a Kohl’s employee, Amazon does pay Kohl’s a small amount for servicing packages through their store.
However, most of the money Kohl’s makes from Amazon comes from returning customers.
Therefore, Kohl’s makes money from its Amazon returns kiosk by generating more foot traffic to their store, and by getting the customers in the store, it eventually entices many to return to purchase other products.
What Does Kohl’s Get From Amazon?
Kohl’s receives both extra foot traffic from Amazon due to customers bringing in package returns, as well as extra stock to expand their store by stocking Amazon brand products.
According to Kohls, their partnership with Amazon has proven to be quite effective, as Kohls has received an extra 2 million customers just in the past largely year due to Amazon package returns bringing customers into the store.
Was Amazon Supposed to Buy Kohl’s?
Because Amazon recently announced plans to open their own Amazon retail stores, many have speculated that Amazon is planning to purchase Kohl’s due to their current partnership.
However, reliable sources do not believe these rumors to be true, largely due to the fact that Kohl’s business model is not very well done and would therefore be a bad investment on Amazon’s part by taking ownership.
Therefore, while many rumors surrounding this possible merger will claim otherwise, it’s unlikely that Amazon will purchase Kohl’s, as the brand is not generally respected among retail businesses and may reflect badly upon Amazon both reputation-wise and monetarily.
To know more about Amazon, you can also read our posts on whether or not Amazon owns Audible, if Amazon owns Chewy, and if Amazon owns Goodreads.
