BUSINESS INSIDER Amazon Fresh is trying to remind customers it's not just a fancy returns point by Alex Bitter

Amazon is likely trying to accomplish two things with the coupons, said Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst and editor of the website Supermarket Guru. The discounts are meant to get customers making returns to stick around and buy groceries, he said. But they also save Amazon money processing returns — having customers bring items to an Amazon-owned location is cheaper for the company than sending them return packaging and a shipping label. "It's a combination of reducing costs as well as trying to get new people to shop at Amazon Fresh," Lempert said.

Amazon Fresh is giving customers who stop by to make a return an incentive to use the store for its intended purpose: buying groceries.

The stores are offering a series of coupons for patrons who use the stores to drop off items that they ordered on Amazon.com, including $10 off a purchase of at least $40 and a slice of pizza with a soda for $3.

Signs at Amazon Fresh stores read "Package return customers save big" and include QR codes so that customers can claim the coupons, according to a photo seen by Business Insider.

A website advertising "up to $12 off $40 at Amazon Fresh" for customers who make a return mentions that the offer is valid between April 17 and June 30 of this year or until Amazon runs out of codes for the promotion.

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the discounts, adding that they apply when customers make a return at any of the chain's roughly 40 locations. "We see many of the customers who return or pickup packages in store each week also combine it with a shopping trip," the spokesperson said.

Amazon is likely trying to accomplish two things with the coupons, said Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst and editor of the website Supermarket Guru.

The discounts are meant to get customers making returns to stick around and buy groceries, he said. But they also save Amazon money processing returns — having customers bring items to an Amazon-owned location is cheaper for the company than sending them return packaging and a shipping label.

"It's a combination of reducing costs as well as trying to get new people to shop at Amazon Fresh," Lempert said.