Retailers are getting help from technology in a busy returns season

Total U.S. returns are expected to come to $380 billion in 2017, according to numbers from The National Retail Federation provided by Optoro, a reverse logistics company that helps with returned and excess inventory.

Tobin Moore, chief executive of Optoro, says retailers are focused on customer experience, even on the return side.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. WMT, +0.14% added Mobile Express Returns to the company’s app to speed up the process, reducing the time it takes to return an item to just 30 seconds, according to Walmart’s senior vice president of services and digital acceleration, Daniel Eckert.

But it’s not all about digital alternatives to human interaction. Kohl’s Corp.KSS, -1.10% partnered with Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +0.32%  to offer free returns at select stores.