By Christina Farr SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc has cut in half the time it takes to give refunds to online store customers who want to return their iPhones and other gadgets, a small but crucial step to try to get more people to buy direct from its website. The move is a big upfront expense on Apples part, but could pay off in the long run if the company can lure online customers away from retailers such as Amazon.com Inc and Best Buy Inc, industry experts say. According to retail-intelligence firm StellaService, customers who buy a product from Apples online store can get a refund in under a week, versus 10 days previously. Apple is processing refunds at a faster rate because the company now uses an expedited service, FedEx 2Day, to let customers ship returned items with prepaid labels to its warehouse in three days.