Articles on: Getting Started

How to Create Return Reason Library and Groups

Plans: All plans Platforms: All platforms


Overview


For eCommerce businesses, the most valuable thing they can get from customer returns is why they are being requested in the first place. There is no greater source of feedback than your existing customers and there is no better time to ask for it than when they are most willing to offer. This kind of data helps you make informed business decisions and shows your customers that you value their feedback.


You can easily set up return reasons and categorize them into groups, which can be found under Return reason > Return policy in the admin.


What you’ll learn


In this article, we will show you:



Setting up reason library


A reason library is a collection of return reasons that will appear on the return portal that customers must select to understand why they are returning the item.


Return reasons are organized by main and sub-reasons, with the ability to enable comments and upload images to get additional feedback and virtual proof of why the products are being returned.


To set up return reasons, follow the steps below


Step 1: Add or edit return reasons



  1. Go to Return policy ** > **Return reason in AfterShip Returns admin
  2. Move down to the Reason library. We have pre-populated a few return reasons for your convenience, but you are welcome to delete them and add new ones
  3. To edit the existing return reason, click Edit
  4. To add a new return reason, click Add reason


  • Input the name of the reason
  • To add a sub-reason, select Add sub-reason
  • To enable comments and images upload, select the checkbox and select optional or required


  1. Click Save



Step 2: Add return reasons to a default return group



You can group different return reasons into different return groups based on the product type or tag.


You can either put the return reasons in the default reason group that will appear for all the product types and tags or create different return groups and add different return reasons in each to suit a particular product or type.


  1. Select Default group > **Edit **
  2. Audit the pre-populated return reasons
  3. Click Manage return reasons to select or unselect return reasons from the library to be added or removed for this group
  4. Delete the return reason by clicking {X} and re-organize the reasons on the list by drag-and-drop
  5. Return reasons in the default group will be applied to all the products unless otherwise set up for return reasons by product type
  6. Select the checkbox to randomize the order of the return reasons in which they appear to the customers on the return portal
  7. Click Save



Setting up return reasons


Setting up this functionality allows you to give your customers different return reasons based on the following criteria



  1. Product tag - As defined in your Shopify admin
  2. Product type - As defined in your Shopify admin
  3. SKU - The SKU of the return item



  1. Order date - The order date of the original order should be ** > **, ** < ** or ** = ** ** {n} ** number of days before return request date



The reason group you learned to set up in Step 2 can also be triggered based on the product types or tags you’ve defined in Shopify and other supported platforms.


Let’s take an example of a Shopify store.


Step 1: Add product types to your products within Shopify


  1. Navigate to Products in your Shopify Admin
  2. Select any product
  3. Under Organization, you'll see



a. Product Type: You can add products to an existing Product Type or create a new one
b. Product Tag: Click Manage to give products an existing Product Tag or create a new one


  1. Once product types and tags have been set in Shopify, the rest of the process takes place in the AfterShip Returns admin.


Step 2: Add or edit return reasons


Though the process of adding or editing return reasons is the same as mentioned before, you can still add, delete, or edit return reasons you feel should be given based on certain product types.


  1. Go to ** Return reason ** > Return policy in AfterShip Returns admin
  2. Move down to the Reason library. We have pre-populated a few return reasons for your convenience, but you are welcome to delete them and add new ones
  3. To edit the existing return reason, click Edit
  4. To add a new return reason, click Add reason


  • Input the name of the reason
  • To add a sub-reason, select Add sub-reason
  • To enable comments and images upload, select the checkbox and select optional or required


  1. Click Save


Step 3: Set up product type, tag, SKU or order date specific reason groups


  1. Select Add reason group in the upper right-hand corner of the page
  2. Add Title
  3. Set up conditions based on product type or tag or both
  4. Select a condition when a product falls into this reason group


  • When all conditions are met
  • When one of the conditions is met


  1. Set up conditions to match the eligibility criteria
  2. Under conditions, you can either configure product types, tags, order date, or product SKU to which this return reason group will apply


Note: Product tag condition supports Shopify, Magento 1, and Woocommerce, whereas Product type condition supports Shopify, Magento 1, 2 and BigCommerce.


  • If All conditions are met condition is selected, all the defined conditions must match


E.g., If the product type is Furniture, product tag is ceramic vase, SKU is 874466447747474, and Order date is more than 50 days before return request date, then all these FOUR conditions (Product type AND Product tag AND Order date AND SKU) must match the product type and tag you’ve defined in Shopify for this reason group to apply.



  • If Any condition is met condition is selected, at least one of the conditions should match


E.g., If the product type is Furniture, product tag is ceramic vase, SKU is 874466447747474, and Order date is more than 50 days before return request date, then any one of these FOUR conditions (Product type OR Product tag OR Order date OR SKU) should match the product type and tag you’ve defined in Shopify for this reason group to apply.



  1. Click Manage return reasons to select or unselect return reasons from the library to be added or removed for this group
  2. Delete the return reason by clicking the cross icon and re-organize the reasons on the list by drag-and-drop
  3. Select the checkbox to randomize the order of the return reasons in which they appear to the customers in the return portal
  4. Click Save


Customer experience


There are two places where you can view return reasons and return reason data


  1. Within individual RMA detail page



  1. Return analytics under top return reasons and return reasons by variants report


  • Navigate to Analytics in AfterShip Returns admin
  • View Top return reasons along with the volume of returns submitted because of those reasons
  • Click View details to see variant-wise return reasons




For any further questions or help, please contact our chat support team or reach out to us at support+returns@aftership.com.

Updated on: 15/04/2025