The correct strategy for merchants here is to raise prices to cover these refunds. Ultimately, this will all fall on the backs of consumers, just like every other “cost of doing business” does.

To put some sense of magnitude on it, according to https://appriss.com/retail/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/1... the median percentage of retail sales refunded across all retail categories is 10%, so this translates to about a 0.3% increase in prices. Would you tolerate a 0.3% decrease in return on your investments in exchange for no additional benefit?