Hey everyone, Nadeem here from Shopify.
Maintaining trust with your customers is one of the most important parts of any business.
That’s why issuing refunds needs to be simple yet efficient.
Keep watching for steps on how to issue refunds within your Shopify admin.
This video will cover how to process refunds for online orders through your Shopify admin.
For details on how to process refunds through the POS app, check out the links below.
First, let’s talk about the difference between “returns” and “refunds”.
s
A return occurs when a customer sends a product back to you.
The product could be damaged, it might not fit correctly, or they may have simply changed
their mind.
A refund occurs when you send payment for an order back to a customer.
Keep in mind, you must process a return, before you can issue a refund.
Next, payments can only be refunded to the original payment method.
This means that if an order was processed using a credit card, the refund is issued
back to that same credit card.
If a customer can’t access the original payment method, they’ll need to reach out
to the payment provider directly to claim their funds.
It’s also important to set proper expectations with your customers about refunds.
You can do this by creating a Refunds & returns policy, and linking that policy in your header
or footer menu.
Some information you could add to your policy include whether you offer refunds or store
credits only, how long someone has to request a refund, and an estimate on how long it takes
to receive a refund.
This time frame ultimately depends on your payment provider.
You should also include whether you refund shipping costs paid on an order, if you offer
free shipping for customers to return items, or if they’re required to cover return shipping
costs themselves.
Our links below can help you decide on what to include when creating a return policy.
Now, let’s run through two different examples of refunds you might need to issue.
The first example is for a business that has one location, and where the customer is shipping
the products back.
From the home page, click “Orders” and open the order you want to refund.
In this first example, the customer received their order and it was fulfilled by one location.
Now the customer has changed their mind and wants a refund.
Once I click “Return Items”, I'm able to generate a return label and I can then
restock the products in the store inventory.
After receiving the t-shirts and confirming their condition, I can complete the transaction
by clicking “Refund”.
Because the t-shirts have already been processed in the return, they’ve been removed from
this order so you can’t see them here.
Now, enter the amount that you’re refunding for shipping costs paid.
If your policy states that you don’t refund shipping costs, then leave this as $0.
Otherwise, the amount shown is what the customer paid for shipping.
You can also enter a reason for the refund, which is useful if you need to refer back
to this order later.
Customers cannot see this note.
Under “Summary”, there’s a breakdown of costs.
The “refund amount” shows the total value of the original order.
You’ll need to enter the amount you are refunding to your customer.
I’m also keeping the box checked to send a notification to the customer.
When you’re ready, click “Refund”.
Taxes can differ depending on the location you and the customer live in.
It’s a good idea to check your local tax laws or with a tax professional for further
details.
How long it takes for a customer to receive the refund, depends on the payment gateway.
If you’re using Shopify Payments, it can take anywhere between 5-10 business days.
The amount to be refunded will be deducted from your next available Shopify Payments
payout.
Keep in mind that with Shopify Payments, credit card fees are not returned on any issued refunds.
Different payment providers will have different rules about refunding credit card and transaction
fees.
Make sure to read the terms of service of the provider you’re using.
Next, let’s take a look at an order that fulfills from multiple locations.
In this example, this order would have been fulfilled from two different locations but
because the order hasn’t been shipped out yet, I don’t need to create a return.
Click “Refund”.
Choose the number of items to refund by clicking the arrows or manually making an adjustment.
By default, the “Restock item” box is checked.
I’m going to keep it checked to update my inventory levels at each location.
If the order was never fulfilled and no shipping labels were purchased, I recommend refunding
the shipping costs.
You can add a reason for the refund if you’d like, but remember this is optional.
Finally, the “‘Summary” section reflects the updated changes, the total amount available
for refund, and the amount you’re actually refunding.
In this case, we’re issuing back everything the customer has paid since we still have
the products in stock and can sell them again.
Click “Refund” to finish the process.
To review what we’ve done, let’s click “Orders.”
This will redirect us to all our orders.
By default, after an order has been fulfilled, paid for, and refunded, it will be archived
which removes it from the “Open orders” list.
Archiving lets you flag an order that’s been done so you can remove it from your open
orders list.
If the order was not fulfilled before the refund was issued, it will not be archived
and will stay in your “Open orders” list.
To archive an unfilled order, click the order to open it.
Click “more actions”, then “Archive.”
The order will now be removed from the “Open Orders” list.
Now you know how to issue a refund in your Shopify admin!
For more information on everything I covered today, check out the links below or visit
help.shopify.com