How to turn refunds into exchanges: Exchange for Anything (Shop Now), bonus credit and more

A refund is the only return outcome where the money leaves your business. An exchange keeps the sale, and store credit keeps the value in your store for the next order. Most retailers would rather see either one, and plenty of shoppers would too, as long as it's easy.

The trouble is that shoppers pick the easiest option in front of them, and on a lot of returns portals that's the refund. Below are the ways to change that, in the order a shopper meets them while lodging a return.

Start with an easy online exchange

Nobody wants to swap a product over email. An online returns portal where shoppers organise the exchange themselves is the starting point for everything below.

The most common exchange is a variant exchange: the same product in a different size or colour. It has the fewest steps because the shopper only picks from that product's variants. If the item was bought on sale and is back at full price, Refundid can match the price they originally paid so they aren't charged the difference.

Refundid can also suggest the right variant for them. Based on the item, the return reason and the shopper's answers, it preselects a likely fit with a short explanation, for example one size up when the reason is "too small". The shopper can take the suggestion or choose something else.

If you're on Shopify and want to know what it handles without an app, read our guide to handling exchanges on Shopify.

Let shoppers swap for any product with Exchange for Anything

A different size doesn't help when the shopper simply doesn't like the product. Exchange for Anything, also known as Shop Now, lets them spend the value of their return on anything in your store instead.

There are two ways to run it. In the returns portal, shoppers browse the collections you choose and pick a new item without leaving the return. On your own store, they're sent back to your website with their credit balance showing at the bottom of the page, so they shop with your normal navigation and merchandising, then come back to finish the return.

If they choose something that costs more, they pay the difference by card in the portal. That's extra revenue on a return, and it's paid to you once the return is approved. If they choose something cheaper, the difference is refunded to them when the return is approved.

Make credit the better deal with bonus credit

Bonus credit adds extra value when a shopper picks store credit or an Exchange for Anything instead of a refund. With a 10% bonus, a shopper returning $100 of items gets $110 to spend. The portal shows it on the option itself, for example "Exchange + Bonus 10%", and the shopper sees the bonus included in their available credit while they shop.

You choose a fixed amount or a percentage. Bonus credit can only be spent, never cashed out, so a shopper who takes it is staying with your store.

You don't have to give everyone the same bonus. With Flows you can set a bigger bonus for VIP customers, a different one for certain products or return reasons, or none at all for frequent returners.

Use your return rules to steer the choice

Your return rules decide which options a shopper sees and what each one costs them. A few that make exchanges and credit the obvious pick:

• Free return shipping for exchanges and store credit, with a return shipping fee on refunds.
• Preselecting the exchange or store credit option so it's the default.
• Hiding the refund option for change-of-mind returns on final sale items or for specific customers.

Rules like these apply to change-of-mind returns. In Australia, a faulty item still has to be refunded, repaired or replaced under consumer law, so check your policy against our guide to change of mind refund laws in Australia.

Take the cost out of exchanging

Small costs push shoppers back towards a refund. Remove them where you can:

• Offer free shipping on the replacement order.
• Waive duties on international exchange orders so overseas shoppers don't pay twice.
• Match the original price when a sale item is back at full price.
• Let shoppers exchange some items and refund others in the same return, instead of turning the whole return into a refund.

Offer store credit when they don't want a swap

Some shoppers don't want anything today but will buy again. Store credit, as a gift card or credit on their customer account, keeps that value in your store. Add bonus credit and it becomes a better deal than the refund. If you sell in Australia, read our guide to refund timeframes and store credit before you set an expiry.

Provide instant exchanges with Refundid

The fastest exchange is one where the shopper doesn't wait for their return to arrive first. With instant exchanges, the replacement is ordered as soon as the return is lodged.

How it works

The shopper enters their order details, selects the items they're returning and chooses the replacement. Refundid places and pays for the new order through your checkout, and you ship it like any other order.

Finance-friendly exchanges

Your finance team doesn't need to change anything. Exchange orders flow through your store and on to your other systems like any other order, and you don't need to hold stock aside before the return arrives.

Zero risk for retailers

Refundid takes on the risk. If the shopper never sends the original item back, you still keep the sale. There are no fees unless the return is approved, and nothing changes on the original order unless it is.

Tell shoppers what you offer

None of this helps if shoppers don't know about it. Put your exchange options in your returns policy and on your product pages:

• Say plainly that shoppers can swap sizes or pick something else, and mention any bonus credit.
• List any costs, exceptions and your exchange window.
• Keep your exchange policy consistent with the rest of your returns policy.

Frequently asked questions

What is Exchange for Anything (Shop Now)?

Exchange for Anything, also known as Shop Now, lets a shopper exchange a returned item for any product in your store, not only a different size or colour of the same item. With Refundid they can shop inside the returns portal or on your own website using the value of their return.

What is bonus credit?

Bonus credit is extra value a shopper gets for choosing an exchange or store credit instead of a refund, for example 10% on top of the return value. It can be spent but not refunded.

Can I offer bonus credit only to some customers?

Yes. Using Flows in Refundid you can change the bonus, or remove it, based on things like customer tags, VIP tier, products or the return reason.

What happens if the new item costs more or less?

If it costs more, the shopper pays the difference by card in the returns portal. If they use Exchange for Anything to pick a cheaper product, the difference is refunded once the return is approved.

Is it included in Refundid's pricing?

Exchanges, Exchange for Anything and bonus credit are included in the Core plan. Instant exchanges are priced separately. See pricing for details.

See every exchange and store credit feature in one place on our exchanges and store credit page, or book a demo to see how Refundid can turn more of your returns into exchanges.