Setting up self-serve returns and cancellations

To let your customers submit return or cancellation requests directly in your online store and in the Shop app, you need to activate self-serve returns and cancellations in your Shopify admin. Customers can request to return items that have been delivered, or cancel items that haven't shipped yet. You can also add instructions to your online store that explain to your customers how they can request a return or cancellation.

Requirements for setting up self-serve returns and cancellations

To let your customers submit return or cancellation requests, you need to complete the following tasks:

• Activate self-serve returns and cancellations in your Shopify admin
• Give customers access to sign in to customer accounts using one of the following methods:
  • Upgrade to customer accounts.
  • Add the URL for customer accounts to your store's footer, refund policy, or another page in your store. If you don’t want to upgrade to customer accounts, then this option lets you continue using legacy customer accounts in your online store and checkout, and gives customers access to request a return or cancellation.

Considerations for setting up self-serve returns and cancellations

Before you set up self-serve returns and cancellations, review the following considerations:

• Self-serve returns and cancellations don't work with legacy customer accounts.
• Exchanges can't be requested in self-serve returns and you can't have exchange-specific return rules.
• A cancellation request doesn't change the order's state on its own. You review and decide on every request.
• Processing a cancellation request on a subscription order doesn't cancel the subscription contract. You need to cancel the subscription separately.
• Digital goods and personalized products aren't automatically exempted from cancellations. Review these orders manually before you process or decline a request.
• Your customers can't submit a return request with more than 250 line items. If your customer wants to submit a return request with more than 250 line items, then they have to submit separate requests.
• Self-serve returns and cancellations work with all orders, including B2B orders. You can't activate the feature for specific types of orders.
• If you use B2B in Shopify, then both the B2B customer that placed the order and the location admin can request returns or cancellations. Learn more about B2B customer permissions.
• If you have a retail location, then customers who buy through the Shop app can return items to a physical store when you use self-serve returns and activate the option in your Shop sales channel settings.

Activate self-serve returns and cancellations

To set up return and cancellation requests, you need to activate self-serve returns and cancellations in your Shopify admin.

After you activate the feature, you need to allow customers to sign in from your online store and checkout using the new version of customer accounts. To do that, you can set up customer accounts in your Shopify admin or add the customer accounts URL to your store.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Customer accounts.

2. In the Customer accounts section, turn on Self-serve returns and cancellations.

3. In the request type drop-down menu, select what customers can request:

   • Return and cancel requests: customers can request both returns and cancellations.
   • Return requests only: customers can request returns only.
   • Cancel requests only: customers can request cancellations only.

To control when customers can request returns or cancellations, and to set products or collections as final sale so they can't be returned or canceled, set up your return and cancellation rules.

Adding the customer accounts URL to your online store

A customer accounts login link appears in your online store by default, based on your customer accounts settings. If you want an additional entry point that makes it clear where customers request returns or cancellations, then you can add the customer accounts URL elsewhere in your store.

When a customer clicks the customer accounts URL, they're prompted to sign in to their customer account, where they can submit a return or cancellation request. You can add the customer accounts URL anywhere on your online store where you can enter a URL, such as in your store's return policy or in a returns page.

You can find and copy the customer accounts URL from Customer accounts settings in the Customer accounts section of the page. After you copy the URL, you can add it to your online store wherever makes the most sense for your business.

Add the customer accounts URL to your refund policy

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Policies.

2. In the Refund policy section, select the text that you want to hyperlink, and then paste the customer accounts URL.

3. Click Save.

Add the customer accounts URL to a page

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Pages.

2. Click the page where you want to add the customer accounts URL, such as a returns page.

3. Select the text that you want to hyperlink, and then paste the customer accounts URL.

4. Click Save.

5. Optional: Click View page to view how the changes are displayed in your online store.

Add the customer accounts URL to your store's footer

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Content > Menus.

2. Click Footer menu.

3. Click Add menu item.

4. In the Name field, enter a page name, such as Returns, Return requests, or Request a return.

5. In the Link field, paste the customer accounts URL.

6. Click Add, and then click Save.

Customer experience

To submit return or cancellation requests, your customer needs to sign in to their customer account. Your customer can access their account in the following ways:

• Click the customer accounts URL that you add to your online store.
• Sign in to their customer account from your store's menu. This option works only if you have the customer accounts activated in your store.

Your customer enters their email address and a six-digit verification code that is sent to their email address. A password isn't required to sign in. After your customer enters the code in your store, they're granted access to their account.

Your customers can submit return requests only for items that are fulfilled, and cancellation requests only for items that haven't shipped yet. When an order contains both shipped and unshipped items, customers can act on each item separately. They can request cancellations for unshipped items, and returns for shipped items. On their order status page, customers click Cancel items, Return items, or Cancel or return, depending on which actions the order is eligible for.

After a customer submits a request, they receive an email confirming the request before you review it. If customers can check out with only a phone number, then the SMS link is their only way to reach this experience, and they're required to enter an email address as part of the request.

When customers submit return requests, the return reasons they can choose from vary based on the product category assigned to each product. For example, apparel products display reasons such as Too big or Too small. Products in other categories display their own category-specific reasons.

Add request instructions to your store

Add information to your refund policy or a page within your online store about how return and cancellation requests work. You can use and adjust the following example instructions of how a customer can submit a return request in your online store. If you offer cancellations, then add similar instructions for canceling unfulfilled items.

Submit a return request

Click the profile icon in the store's menu, or go to the refund policy or a returns page, and then request a return.

Sign in to your account:

In the "Email" field, enter your email address, and then click "Continue".
In your email account, open the email sent from our store and copy the six-digit verification code included in the email.
Go back to the online store, and then enter a six-digit verification code.


Click "Request return" for the order that you want to submit the return for.
If your order has more than one item, then select the items that you want to return.
Select a return reason and add a note for the store.
Click "Request return".

If your return request is approved and requires shipping, then you receive an email with shipping instructions and a return shipping label. After the product is returned, you receive a refund.

Customizing return requests branding

The pages where your customers submit return and cancellation requests use your checkout's branding settings. To make changes to the branding of these pages, you need to update your checkout's branding settings.

The following branding settings don't apply to these pages:

• logo position
• logo alignment
• logo max width

Customizing return request email notifications

Return requests have the following email notifications that you can customize:

• return request confirmation
• return request approved
• return request declined

You can customize these notifications in Settings > Notifications > Returns.

Review the following table to learn more about return request email notifications:

If you provide a return shipping label, then customers receive a return approval email and another email that contains a return shipping label.

Receiving return requests email notifications

If you choose to receive order notifications by email, then you also automatically receive return request notifications by email. Return request notifications aren't available on the Shopify app.

You can manage your order and return request notifications in Settings > Notifications > Staff order notifications.