Imagine Godzilla and King Kong opened a lemonade stand together. That’s how I perceive this agreement between retail enemies, Staples and Amazon. At first, you hear the idea and you’re like, okay whatever, Staples is accepting returns from Amazon orders. Who cares? But dig into the details and one can see how brilliant this move is for Staples. It’s an idea Sun Tzu (“Art of War”) would be proud of. Let’s break it down.

First, the details.

Here’s what’s included in this deal between arch enemies, one made of bricks, the other made of bits (source: PYMNTS):

• Staples stores will accept eligible unpackaged, unlabeled Amazon returns at no charge.

• Customers can drop off the items at a store’s full-service shipping area and will receive a coupon that they can use on a wide range of products and services in the Staples store that day.

According to Gopal Pillai, vice president of worldwide returns and reCommerce at Amazon, “Our goal is to make buying online as easy as possible, and we know that some items don’t always work out as planned, which is why we work hard to continue to raise the bar in offering a hassle-free returns experience to our customers.”

Now, let’s count the ways this idea works for Staples.

Drives valuable traffic.

This is the most obvious benefit to Staples, but it’s an important one to a retailer with a bricks and mortar presence. And it’s not just any traffic. These are Amazon customers by definition. Amazon customers driven to a physical store! This idea will remind these online shoppers that Staples exists, it’s not far away, and wow look at all the stuff it’s got.

Increases relevance.

For those who choose to return their Amazon items at a Staples, we can probably assume they find value in the in-person return. Which means, while they clearly shop online at Amazon, their heads aren’t as in the cloud (pun intended) as the real die-hards who don’t feel the need to leave their houses anymore. Visiting a Staples for a return may remind them how nice and tangible it is to shop at Staples. Increased relevance ensues.

staples Launders Amazon Returns.

This is the biggie. Converting an Amazon sale into a Staples sale is marketing gold. There’s no other way to look at this but laundering money from Amazon to Staples. Customers come into Staples, drop off the Amazon product, and get a coupon to shop in Staples.

How can Amazon do this? In the spirit of making returns as easy as possible they are giving up the entire sale AND still incurring shipping charges for the returns. Worst of both worlds.

Unless…

Staples sees so much value in driving Amazon customers to its stores, it is paying for both the coupon value and the shipping. Regardless, someone smarter than me on both sides has crunched the numbers and found this idea suitable for both parties.

I still have questions.

The press release doesn’t give away much more than I did above. So here are my questions:

1. Are the coupons for Staples merchandise of equal value to the purchase price of the Amazon item? I get the sense they want us to conclude that, but it’s not stated explicitly.

2. Who’s paying for the coupon?

3. Who’s paying for the shipping?

4. When you say “Staples stores will accept eligible unpackaged, unlabeled Amazon returns” what exactly do you mean by “eligible”? And why didn’t you simply explain what was eligible in the press release? I suspect it’s because we won’t like the restrictions, but we’ll see.

5. When you say the redemption of coupons can be used “…on a wide range of products and services in the Staples store” what are the limitations? Again, this vague language makes me skeptical coupons will be useable on anything people want.

Assuming the answers to these questions are favorable to consumers, I can’t help but think the net gain from this idea goes to Staples. Amazon has been crushing all bricks and mortar retailers, including Staples, for years now. It’s refreshing to see Staples make like King Kong and pound its chest with a great idea.

A great idea we wish we thought of.

Will Burns is a Fractional Brand Officer and the Founder & CEO of the revolutionary virtual-idea-generating company, Ideasicle X. He’s an advertising veteran from such agencies as Wieden & Kennedy, Goodby Silverstein, Arnold Worldwide, and Mullen. He was a Forbes Contributor for nine years writing about creativity in modern branding. Sign up for the Ideasicle Newsletter and never miss a post like this.