Creating Custom Return Rules With ReturnZap

Use Custom Return Logic with ReturnZap

Note: Return rules are available on the ReturnZap Standard plan and above. Learn more about the benefits of upgrading.

With ReturnZap, you can define custom rules to change your shop's return behavior based on 20+ criteria. With these rules, you can create a flexible return policy and handle complex scenarios like sending returns back to vendors or distributing among multiple warehouses.

Create custom shopify returns logic with ReturnZap

ReturnZap Return Logic Criteria

ReturnZap supports return rules based on 5 categories.

Customer - Create return rules based on details about the customer who is returning the item.
Order - Define return rules based on details about the order the customer is trying to return
Product - Create return rules based on details about the actual product being returned.
Return Details - Define return rules based on attributes about the return itself

Within each of these categories, ReturnZap supports multiple return attributes.

ReturnZap allows you to create sets of rules by combining these attributes and defining actions based off of them.

Returns Logic Attributes for Shopify

Customer Attributes

Customer Country - 2 digit country format. Eg: US, CA. See all country codes at this link.
Customer Email Address
Customer ID - This is a 13 digit numerical ID. You can find this ID by navigating to a customer page within your Shopify admin and copying it from the URL. The URL should read /admin/customers/[CUSTOMER ID]

Order Attributes

Discount Code - Should match an existing discount code you have created within your Shopify admin
Order Number - Your internal Shopify order number, including any custom prefixes you have defined.
Order ID - This is a 13 digit numerical ID. You can find this ID by navigating to an order page within your Shopify admin and copying it from the URL. The URL should read /admin/orders/[ORDER ID]
Order Date - The date the order was placed. Must be in "YYYY-MM-DD" format. Example format: 2022-04-01.
Order Total - The total value of the order. Numerical value only, no currency symbol. Decimals are supported. Example format: 25.00.

Product Attributes

Product ID - This is a 13 digit numerical ID. You can find this ID by navigating to a product page within your Shopify admin and copying it from the URL. The URL should read /admin/products/[PRODUCT ID]
Product Title - Note that this is product title, not variant title!
Product Type - This attribute uses the "Custom Type" Shopify attribute, not the standardized Shopify product type. Custom type can be defined on the Shopify product admin page.
Product Tags - Any Shopify tags applied to your product. Must match exactly (we recommend copying and pasting).
Product Vendor - The Shopify product vendor attribute
Product Variant ID - This is a 13 digit numerical ID. You can find this ID by navigating to a product page within your Shopify admin and clicking into a spefic product variant. The variant ID can be found in the URL. The URL should read /admin/products/[PRODUCT ID]/variants/[VARIANT ID]
Product Variant SKU - The SKU you have assigned to a specific product variant.
Product Variant Title
Product Variant Price - The sell price of the variant. Numerical value only, no currency symbol. Decimals are supported. Example format: 25.00.

Return Details

Return Reason - The name of the return reason the customer has selected. The exact name will depend on your custom reasons. Example: "Did not fit".
Return Type - Refund, Exchange, or Credit

Conditions That Can Apply To Each Criteria

Once you have decided which attributes you wish to use to create a return rule, you need to decide which condition to apply to that attribute.

ReturnZap supports the following conditions:

Is
Is Not
Less Than
Greater Than
Begins With
Ends With
Contains

With this set of 'operators' you can combine attributes to create powerful return rules.

Some example rules you can create using these operators:

Combine two rules to create a rule based on an order date between two specific dates. Use one rule to define a date greater than your start date in format YYYY-MM-DD and another rule to define a range less than your end date in format YYYY-MM-DD.

Create a rule based on order value greater than a target amount.

Define returns from orders outside of a specific country by setting Customer Country Is Not your target country (using the 2 digit country c0de)

Actions You Can Take With ReturnZap Rules

Once you define the attribute(s) you want to use to create your return rule, and the operator you want to apply to that attribute, you can define the action that you want to take when those conditions are met.

Currently, ReturnZap allows the following actions:

Do Not Allow
Ship to Warehouse

With Do Not Allow, you can prevent a customer from taking one of the following actions:

Submit a refund
Submit an exchange
Submit a store credit return
Submit any kind of return
Pre-pay for a label within the returns portal
Ship the item themselves via a carrier of their choice
Return using a prepaid label from your store

With Ship to Warehouse, you can route returns among different receiving warehouse. For example, you may create a rule where if Vendor Name matches a specific vendor, you route that return directly to that same vendor.

ReturnZap will automatically populate a list of eligible warehouses in the dropdown menu. You can add new warehouses within the ReturnZap settings page by navigating to Settings > Shipping and adding new locations to the Alternate Locations section.

Displaying a Custom Message When a Rule Applies

For each rule, you can choose to customize a message that will display to a customer within the self service returns portal.

Define the message in the text input box at the bottom of the rules screen:

Custom shopify return rules display message

This message will display to the customer when a specific rule is triggered. We recommend that you always create a message, and that you be as descriptive as possible to tell the customer why a specific action is being taken.