How to Process Return Requests

Overview

AfterShip Returns enables you to seamlessly approve, process, and reject return requests on the RMA detail page.

What you'll learn

In this article, we will discuss:

1. RMA detail page: Overview
2. Return details: administrative actions

• Approve
• Add Return label
• Mark as received
• Create Shopify order
• Refund
• Mark as resolved
• Rejected

3. Track return shipment status

RMA detail page: Overview

1. Go to ** Returns ** in the AfterShip Returns admin
2. Select a reuest request to open the detail page of that RMA
3. The RMA detail page overviews 9 main sections

1. Return details

• The item(s) being returned
• Return resolution (outcome) desired by the customer
• Return shipping method opted by the customer

2. Refund or exchange amount information

• Refund initiated to customer mode of choice along with cost of return, return item tax, and shipping (if applicable)
• Gift card value, if applicable
• Exchange upsell-amount paid by the customer, if applicable

3. Notes

• Accompanying notes for the return request

4. Order information

• A link to the original order and product details
• A link to the exchange order and product details (applicable if the customer wants to exchange for another item)

5. Customer information

• Customer name, email address, and shipping country/region

6. Return shipment information

• Shipping information, including the tracking number, carrier name, SKU of the item(s) in the shipment, shipment creation date, shipment’s current status, return label, and QR code

7. Fraud analysis

• Showcases if any anti-fraud workflow has been triggered for the customer based on the predefined conditions. ** Learn more> **
• Displays all the previous return requests from a customer to have a better look into customer’s return patterns and trends indicative of fraudulent behaviour, such as unusually high rates of returns for certain products or suspicious return reasons.

8. Timeline

The timestamped list of

• When was the request raised and by whom
• When was the request processed/updated and by whom
• When was the request updated to which status and by whom
• When was the notification emails sent to the customer
• When and who added the shipment details
• When and how was the request resolved
• Comments left by you or other members of your organization

9. Flagged RMA

If the RMA is marked as flagged, it will show in the form of a banner at the top of the return request for further analysis. ** Learn more > **

Return details: administrative actions

There are a number of administrative actions you can take from the return details page.

A. Approve

a. Ship with a returns label

• Upon clicking Approve, a popup will open to confirm if you want to approve the request
• You can manually upload the return label at this step or automatically generate it with AfterShip Returns’s shipping capability
• You also have the option to Add label later after approving the request. It will not pose as a blocker to approve the request

b. Ship with any carrier of your choice

• Upon clicking Approve, an email notification will be sent to the customer with shipping instructions and a link to Enter shipment details of the return package
• The RMA request will be updated to Approved

B. Add Return label

1. Once the request is approved, you can Add return label in the Shipment section to upload or generate the return label with AfterShip Returns. The return label will also be sent in the Approved email notification

2. Once the return label is manually uploaded or automatically generated with AfterShip Returns by merchant and sent to the customer via email or returns page, the Shipment section will be updated with the tracking number and carrier
   
   

3. For the customers who've opted for the Ship with any carrier of your choice shipping method, once the tracking details are added by them, the Shipment section will be updated with the tracking number and carrier along with the package's current status

• Upon clicking the tracking number, you will be redirected to the AfterShip Tracking’s public tracking page, where you can get the complete status of the incoming package
• You can add additional labels in case they are more than one products in the order that needs to be sent separately

C. Mark as received

1. Upon clicking Mark as received, a popup will open, allowing you to

a. Grade item condition: To grade the condition of the returned item between Grade A, B, C and D
b. Restock: To restock item to one of your configured warehouse locations. The item will be auto-restocked in case the Auto-restocked rule is enabled in your admin
c. Email notification: You can also decide whether you want to send an email notification to notify customer of the same
d. Item quantity: In case of multiple quantities of the same SKU, you can input quantity of the item received so far
e. Item selection: For RMAs with multiple items, you can select the item you want to mark as received

2. For drop-off at any of the Happy Returns®️ locations, you can only mark requests as received after confirmation from Happy Returns®️

• The RMA request will be updated to Shipment received

D. Create Shopify order

For the exchange and replacement orders, you can opt to Create Shopify order from the RMA detail

• Click Create Shopify order and click Create order again to create an order in your Shopify admin
• Once the Shopify order is created, the Order section will automatically reflect the exchange order number with the link to view the order on Shopify
• The RMA request's status will remain Approved

E. Refund

Based on the return resolution selected by the customer, you can initiate the refund accordingly on the RMA detail page.

1. Refund to original payment method

• Click Refund
• On the side panel, select whether you want to refund the full order amount including the order amount and shipping or just the original order value. The total refund value will be displayed accordingly
• Click Refund and confirm the refund initiation by clicking Submit
• The RMA status will showcase both Approved and Refunded with an additional section of Refunded with the related refund details

**2. Refund to store credit **

• On the side panel, select whether you want to refund the full order amount including the order amount and shipping or just the original order value. The total refund value will be displayed accordingly
• Click Issue gift card and confirm the refund initiation by clicking Submit
• The RMA status will showcase both Approved and Refunded with an additional section of Refunded with the related refund details

Change refund method

When a customer returns an item and you inspect it to determine if it meets the criteria for a refund. If the package fails to meet the eligibility criteria for a cash refund, instead of rejecting the return request which would certainly upset the customer, you can change the refund method.

For Pending and Approved RMAs with either Refund to original payment method or Refund to store credit refund method, you have the option to change the refund method as per your returns policy. If the package fails inspection and isn’t eligible for a cash refund, you can change the refund method from the original payment (e.g., credit card) to store credit. This not only keeps the revenue within your business but also maintains customer goodwill by providing them with a solution they can use later.

To edit the refund method,

1. On the detail page for a pending or an approved RMA with pending refund status, click Edit refund method.
2. Select the refund method and provide a reason for the change (the refund method will be automatically set to the available option).
3. You can also notify your customer about this change by setting up the Edit return request email notification under the ** Notifications center. ** Select the checkbox to send the notification for the updated refund method.
4. Once you click Save, the refund method will be successfully updated, and a timeline will also be created for tracking. You can still change the refund method before the refund or store credit is processed.

3. Exchange for other items

For items that are exchanged for a cheaper item, you can issue refund from the RMA detail page based on whether the customer has opted for Refund to original payment method or Refund to store credit.

F. Mark as resolved

The RMA will be marked as resolved and the status will be updated as such.

G. Rejected

• After receiving the return request and reviewing the request details, you can either Approve the request or Reject it.
• Rejecting the request means you are denying customer’s request to return

1. Upon clicking Reject, a popup window will open
2. Add the reason for rejecting the request in the dialogue box
3. Select the checkbox to send customers an email notification notifying them of the same
4. Click Confirm

• The RMA request will be updated to Rejected

Track return shipment status

• To track the whereabouts of the return shipment, the status of the shipment will keep updating untill the package is delivered on the RMA detail page.
• AfterShip Returns supports the following key statuses for AfterShip generated return labels: Pending, In-transit, Delivered , Received or Partially received
• For Ship with any carrier of your choice return labels, you don't need to update labels as the tracking information will be provided by the customer. You can track the return shipments with Shipped, Received or Partially received key statuses once the shipment details are added by the customer
• For Drop-off at Happy Returns®️ location RMAs, you can determine when to mark requests as received with four key statuses Dropped-off, Partially dropped-off, Received or Partially received

Here's what each status means.

There are two additional statuses exclusively for customers using Drop off at Happy Returns® locations return shipping method

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