Starting September 9th, 2024, we are introducing some significant changes to our existing order exchange flow.

Starting September 9th, 2024, AfterShip Returns is introducing a new exchange order flow for its customers. The Full Value Exchange Order (Discount On/Off) Flow will be implemented where the item being returned will be replaced with a new item of equal value or higher (upsell) for all the exchange order scenarios.

This means the exchange order will be created for the full retail value of the item instead of the $0 or Upsell Value Exchange Order Flow we’ve been using till now. The new exchange order flow will consolidate the replace with the same item and exchange for other item processes under a unified framework to simply exchange handling.

To further amplify the benefits of the new order exchange flow and allow merchants to manage exchanges efficiently, the option to apply a discount from the returned item towards the new item (discount on) or not apply any discount (discount off) will be given. Based on the applied settings, the exchange orders will be treated accordingly.

Feature	Scenario	Flow
Replace with the same item	Uneven exchange	Full-value exchange order (Discount on/off)
	Even exchange
Exchange for other items	Upsell exchange	Full-value exchange order (Discount on/off)
	Even exchange
	Uneven exchange	Full-value exchange order (Discount on/off)

Reasons for developing the new order exchange flow

The introduction of the Full Value Exchange Order (Discount On/Off) Flow will establish a standardized method for handling exchange orders and ensure consistency in how these transactions are managed and recorded.

As opposed to $0 or Upsell Value Exchange Order Flow which often leads to tax filling inconsistencies, the financial impact of the Full Value Exchange Order (Discount On/Off) Flow is pretty straightforward. For accurate tax reporting, both the original purchase and the exchange order must be accounted for correctly. With a standardized process for handling exchange orders, all financial transactions related to sales and exchanges will be accurately recorded, ensuring accurate revenue tracking and easier tax reporting reconciliation.

Impact on existing AfterShip Returns settings

The introduction of the new full-value exchange order flow will influence how the various settings around exchange orders in your AfterShip Returns are processed and consequently how the exchange orders will be treated.

The settings which will be updated and reconfigured to align with the new order exchange flow based on full-value exchanges are as follows.

1. Replace with the same item resolution

Existing feature logic:

The existing logic where the price difference is handled by third-party platforms, does not allow for adjusting the price difference on the returned items, especially when the original item is being replaced with a variant of a different price (cheaper or expensive). There was no provision of charging or refunding the price difference which often cause a lot of confusion for shoppers due to lack of clarity on how the price difference is handled on the summary page.

New feature implementation:

With the latest feature enhancement, there are now improved methods for handling replacement orders with price differences. You can treat replacement returns as even exchanges, despite the price difference between the original and new variant, charge the upsell amount or refund the excess amount via AfterShip Returns, or continue using the previous logic where third parties handle the price difference and the value shown on the returns summary page is fixed. The new logic also allows to charge or refund the price difference based on the full return value (Pre-discount) rather than a discounted return value.

The new enhancement also allows you to hide the exchange note during the return submission process.

Impact on existing settings

There is no impact on existing merchants and they can continue using the existing logic where price differences are handled by a third party.
Merchants can try the new feature at any time, which allows for charging or refunding price differences through AfterShip Returns or treat them as even exchange.
For gift returns, the Even Replace option will be used by default, regardless of the return handling option selected.

2. Checkout methods

Existing feature logic

The existing functionality allows to set up checkout methods for the different exchange flows— Exchange on your store and Exchange on AfterShip Returns page individually on their respective configuration windows to charge for exchange order, exchange shipping, and cost of returns. The Stripe checkout capability was unavailable for Exchange on AfterShip Returns page flow and the cost of return on the replacement orders can only be proceed through Stripe checkout.

New feature implementation:

With the latest feature enhancement, both Stripe and Shopify checkout can be configured on a unified configuration window for all the exchange flows Exchange on your store and Exchange on AfterShip Returns page as well as Replacement orders to charge customers for exchange orders, exchange shipping, and cost of returns.

Impact on existing settings

Existing merchants will not be affected and they can continue using their current checkout methods without disruption.
Merchants can only use one checkout method as the default. They cannot use both Stripe and Shopify checkouts simultaneously for their replacement and exchange operations.

3. Shopify tags

Custom tags work with Shopify only. Auto-generated notes work with Shopify, SFCC, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce.

Existing feature logic:

As it stands, the Shopify tag feature operates with two exchange order triggers based on resolution, which results in the creation of two distinct tags on Shopify for AfterShip Returns orders, namely AfterShip exchange order and AfterShip replace item.

New feature implementation:

With the latest feature enhancement, a single trigger will apply to all exchange scenarios. This includes Exchange for other items or Replace with the same item orders created via AfterShip Returns, which will now be denoted as "AfterShip Returns exchange order", resulting in the creation of two standardized tags {AfterShip Returns exchange order} & {Initial order number} for both the scenarios.

The order notes will be updated to include the date and time of when the exchange order was created along with the upsell value and the relevant details about the checkout process for the exchange order.

Impact on existing settings

Your settings will not be impacted if you have only one trigger activated from the current exchange order flow (either an Exchange for other items or Replace with the same item order creation). Your existing tags will be seamlessly merged with the new trigger settings.

If you have both the triggers Exchange for other items and Replace with the same item enabled, but the tags configured for both the triggers are the same, in that scenario too we will seamlessly merge your existing settings with the new trigger settings.

If you have both the triggers Exchange for other items and Replace with the same item enabled, and the tags configured for both the triggers are different, we will merge your "Replace with the same item" tags configuration with the new trigger while the “Exchange for other items” tags configuration will be removed.

4. Instant exchanges

Existing feature logic:

The Instant Exchange feature currently employs two exchange order triggers: Exchange for other items and Replace with the same item. As a result, customers' cards are initially authorized for a specific amount and then charged according to the settings for each resolution.

New feature implementation:

With the latest feature enhancement, a single trigger logic will apply to all exchange scenarios. This includes Exchange for other items and Replace with the same item orders created via AfterShip Returns, which will now be denoted as "AfterShip Returns exchange order". For all the exchange orders, the same Instant exchange settings will be applied.

Impact on existing settings

Your settings will not be impacted if only one resolution is activated for the current Instant exchange order flow, whether it's Exchange for other items or Replace with the same item. Your existing settings will be seamlessly merged with the new trigger settings.

If you have both the triggers Exchange for other items and Replace with the same item enabled, with the same outcome for Instant exchange order flow, we will seamlessly merge your existing settings with the new trigger.

If you have enabled both Exchange for other items and Replace with the same item resolutions with different conditions to treat Instant Exchange orders, we will merge your “Replace with the same item” Instant exchange settings with the new trigger settings while the “Exchange for other items” Instant exchange settings will be removed.

5. Auto-create replacement and exchange orders

Existing feature logic:

The Auto-create exchange order automation feature currently employs two triggers: Exchange for other items and Replace with the same item. As a result, for both the triggers different conditions are configured and applied to create replacement and exchange orders respectively.

New feature implementation:

With the latest feature enhancement, a single condition will be applied to all the auto-create exchange order scenarios. This includes Exchange for other items and Replace with the same item orders created via AfterShip Returns, which will now be denoted as "AfterShip Returns exchange order" and follow a standardized full-value exchange order flow.

Impact on existing settings

Your settings will not be impacted if exchange order auto-creation is activated for only one resolutions— Exchange for other items or Replace with the same item. Your existing settings will be seamlessly merged with the new centralized exchange order flow settings.

If you have enabled exchange order auto-creation settings for both the triggers Exchange for other items and Replace with the same item, with the same conditions, we will seamlessly merge your existing settings with the new settings.

If you have enabled both Exchange for other items and Replace with the same item resolutions with different conditions to auto-create exchange orders, we will merge your “Replace with the same item” settings with the new exchange order flow settings while the “Exchange for other items” settings will be removed.

6. Exchange order prefix and suffix

Available for Shopify only.

Existing feature logic:

As it stands, Shopify uses its standard order name format without any customization for exchange orders created via AfterShip Returns, causing difficulties to differentiate them from other orders within Shopify.

New feature implementation:

With the latest feature enhancement, you can now add a custom prefix to exchange orders to make them easier to identify on Shopify. Additionally, a suffix is added to the order number to indicate the number of times an exchange request and exchange on exchange requests are submitted for the original order.

For an original order #1001, the exchange order would be named as EXC-#1001-1.
If there is an exchange of the exchange order, it would be named as EXC-#1001-1-1.

Updated on: 10/09/2024