On March 15 – World Consumer Rights Day – the China Consumers’ Association launched a campaign to persuade brick-and-mortar shops around the nation to allow customers to return goods without giving a reason (in the same way online retailers do).
A number of well-known companies have already signed on, including e-commerce company Suning, home appliances retailer Gome, and wholesalers Walmart, the Party-run news site People’s Daily reports.
In order to protect online shoppers' rights, the Consumer Protection Law, officially implemented on March 15, 2014, holds that (with a few exceptions) consumers are allowed to return goods without giving a reason within seven days. Yet this commitment does not apply to offline retailers. Only when goods are proved faulty are consumers eligible to demand compensation.
Wang Bin, a commentator at news portal The Paper, wrote in favor of the initiative, saying it protects the consumer’s right to know and right to choose, will attract more consumers to physical stores by making them feel comfortable purchasing goods offline, and will improve the competitiveness of brick-and-mortar retailers.
But Wang adds that the right should be enforced through laws and regulations. Wang calls for an official dispatch to make clear by what date consumers should return goods and how they should go about doing so.