Creating policies for your Shopify store is a great way to answer potential questions,
while also building trust with your customers.
Here’s your quick and easy guide on how to create store policies, what to include
in them, and how to link them to your online store.
For everything I show you today, you can find all of the help articles linked below.
Now let’s get started!
Hey everyone!
Aly here.
When you’re creating policies for your store, you can either use one of the default templates
Shopify provides and make any necessary changes, or write the entire policy yourself.
For now, Shopify provides the templates in English.
So if you need another language, use the default template and translate it to suit your businesses
needs.
From your Shopify admin, click “Settings”.
Then click “Legal”.
Here, you have text boxes for different types of policies.
Let’s start with the refund policy and work our way down.
A good refund and return policy can help protect your company and win your customers’ trust.
It’s extremely important to use both clear and concise language.
A refund policy should answer the following questions:
How long does the customer have to return the item?
In what condition can items be returned?
Will a refund be issued, and if so, how much?
And will the refund be issued to a store credit or back to the customer using the same payment
method they used to make the original purchase?
How do exchanges work?
Do you offer returns or refunds on sale items?
And who will pay for return shipping should an item need to be returned?
If you already know what information you want to include, then enter it in the text box.
Otherwise, click “Create from template” to use Shopify’s free refund policy generator.
The template is a great start, but I recommend going through and making adjustments to better
suit your business.
For example, at AlyAthletics, our return policy is 20 days from when their package arrived,
or 20 days from the date of purchase in store.
So I’ll make that change.
Next, let’s look at the Privacy Policy.
This is a legal document that describes all the ways your business uses your customers
data.
It lets your customers know exactly which personal information is being gathered, how
it’s being used, and how it’s being protected.
Under Privacy Policy, click “Create from template”.
Privacy policies can be intimidating because they're so detailed, but take the time to
review the information and edit it to match your businesses policies.
For example, if you’re sharing this data with other vendors, then include that information
here.
Next up, Terms of Service.
This is a legal document developed to protect your company.
It tells your customers what is legally required of them if they use your services, like your
website or mobile app.
Under Terms of Service, click “Create from template”.
Review the information and make then any changes.
The template provided is very thorough, so you might not need to make very many changes
at all.
But if you’re ever unsure, you can always consult with a legal advisor in your area.
Finally, the shipping policy.
You might notice that there is no default template provided here.
Because shipping is so custom for each business, you need to create a policy that reflects
your shipping guidelines.
And, because Covid19 has brought shipping delays and increased carrier costs, it's more
important than ever to keep your shipping policy up to date.
Try to include the following information: Order processing times.
After an order is placed, how many days will it take to get the order ready to ship?
This is particularly important information around holidays.
Domestic and international shipping options.
What countries do you ship to?
And what are the expected delivery times for each country?
Shipping costs.
Surprise shipping costs at checkout are one of the top reasons people abandon their carts.
Be very clear about how much shipping costs and if you offer free shipping.
Local options.
If you offer local delivery or pickup, you can explain the steps customers need to follow
after they place an order.
Returns, changes and cancellations.
Even though you have a separate returns policy, you can summarize that information here or
link out to it so customers can read it before they decide to make a purchase.
Include how your business evaluates refunds, order edits, exchanges, and what your process
is in the event of a lost or damaged order.
It’s common to need to update your shipping policy every few months, especially if you
add new shipping options and carriers, expand your fulfillment network, or anticipate delays.
And if you use a dropshipping service, like Oberlo, then your shipping policy needs to
reflect Oberlo’s guidelines.
Check out the video linked above about Oberlo shipping settings and how to create shipping
policies for a dropshipping business.
My personal preference is to write my shipping policy in another text editor like Google
Docs so I can take my time with it.
But also so I can save it as a backup since I’m not working from a default template
like the other policies.
When you have your Shipping policy created, paste it into the text box.
Then click “Save” to finish.
Now that your policies are created, you need to make sure that your customers can easily
find them.
Store policies are usually linked in the footer menu at the bottom of the online store, like
in this example.
Let’s jump back into the Shopify admin.
Click “Online store”, then “Navigation”.
From here, click “Footer Menu”.
Click “Add menu item”, and then give the menu item a name like “Refund Policy”.
This is the name that customers will see on your store.
In the search field under “Link”, find and select “Policies” and then click “Refund
Policy”.
Click “Add” to finish.
To include all of the policies you just created, repeat these steps for each one.
Be sure to click “Save” when you’re done making changes.
Your policies are now live!
You can preview them by clicking the eye icon next to “Online store”.
Then scroll to the bottom of your site to see and test your new links.
Now you have everything you need to create well thought out store policies, so customers
know exactly what to expect when shopping on your online store.
And for more information on everything I covered today, visit help.shopify.com.