How to Set up a Minimum Inventory Level for Exchange Items

Overview

AfterShip Returns enables you to set up a minimum inventory level for exchange items to make inventory management more efficient and ensure buyers a seamless return experience.

📢 What you’ll learn

• Steps to enable the minimum inventory setting
• How to determine the most appropriate threshold
• How the setting looks on the returns page

Prerequisite

1. Go to Products section in your Shopify admin
2. Select a product to access its details page. Move down to the Inventory section and unselect Continue selling when out of stock option.

Do this for all the products available for sale on your online store.

Steps to enable the minimum inventory setting

1. Navigate to AfterShip Returns Return policy > Refunds and exchanges > Minimum inventory

2. Check the tick box to enable Minimum inventory
3. Set your threshold by entering the Threshold quantity
4. Hit the Save button

How to determine the most appropriate threshold

• If set to a higher value: The chances are more products will appear out-of-stock during the exchange process, increasing the chances of a refund request.
• If set to a lower value: The chances are the customer would be able to place an exchange request when the product is still in stock. But once the item is returned by the shopper and the merchant places an exchange order, the item might run out of stock by that time due to the usual sales process.
• Track the frequency at which the products are sold, on average, to calculate the most appropriate minimum inventory threshold for your store.

How the setting looks on the returns page

• If the customer wants to exchange the purchased product with the same item and it’s below the minimum inventory threshold, the particular variant will be grayed out.

• If the customer wants to exchange the purchased product with another item from the catalog,

a. If all the variants are below the minimum inventory threshold, the item will not be displayed during the exchange process.

b. If some variants are below the minimum inventory level, the item will be displayed on the exchange page, but the out-of-stock products will be grayed out.

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