Instead of a refund, the customer picks other goods in the portal, such as a different size, a different colour, or a completely different product from your catalog. The value of the returned goods pays for the new order and only the price difference is settled.
The revenue stays with you and the customer doesn't have to place a new order. The exchange runs as a regular ticket: return shipping, communication, and ticket states work the same as for a return.
Shops on Shoptet find exchanges directly in Settings → Exchanges. On other platforms we enable exchanges on request. Write to us at [email protected].
What you need before switching exchanges on
Product catalog - Retino reads variants, stock availability, and current prices of your goods from it. If you don't have it yet, you'll switch it on while activating exchanges.
An enabled customer portal and a selected ticket type the exchange should be offered on. Typically the return.
How to switch exchanges on
Open Settings → Exchanges.
Choose the Ticket type the exchange will be offered on in the portal.
Click Activate exchanges.
If the product catalog isn't running yet, the page prompts you with the Activate product sync button. Shops without an API product connection get a guide to the XML feed.
During activation, Retino loads shipping and payment methods, categories, and the product catalog from your shop. The settings page then walks you through the whole exchange journey, from the customer's choice in the portal to your steps in the administration.
Test mode
You can first try exchanges only on selected orders. In the Scope section, enter Test emails and the portal will offer the exchange only on orders placed with these emails. An empty list means exchanges are offered to everyone.
This is useful for walking through the whole process on your own order before you open exchanges to all customers.
Several shops in one account
If you have several shops in Retino, you switch exchanges on for each one separately. Categories and shipping and payment methods are also set per shop. The remaining settings, that is the ticket type, the surcharge due date, and the automation scope, apply to the whole account.
What the customer can choose
On every returned item the customer decides between Choose another variant, Choose another product, and Return item (money back). Two settings control what the portal offers.
Offer scope
Anything from the catalog - the customer picks any goods from your shop.
Another variant only - the customer only changes the variant of the same product (typically the colour or size).
Sold-out variants are shown as unavailable and cannot be selected.
Rules by category
Two independent rules, each set separately:
What can be exchanged determines which goods the customer may exchange. An item from a category marked No exchange can be returned but not exchanged. The customer will see they get their money back for it.
Replacement catalog determines which categories the customer may pick new goods from.
Shipping and payment of the new goods
In this step you set up the delivery of the new goods to the customer. Return shipping, which the customer uses to send the returned goods back to you, is set up separately.
Shipping and payment methods load from your shop, and their names and availability sync continuously.
You set the exchange prices in Retino. An empty price means free.
For shipping you can set a Free shipping from threshold. It is compared with the price of the new goods, not with the surcharge.
A hidden method is not offered to the customer.
How the customer sees the exchange
On the returned item, the portal shows the question What about this item? with the options Choose another variant, Choose another product, and Return item.
The customer finds another product by its name, code, or EAN, or pastes a product link from your shop.
The payment method and the shipping type are set automatically from the original order.
In the Summary, the customer sees all the products they are returning and all the products they are getting. They confirm the agreement and click Confirm exchange request.
While choosing, the customer keeps seeing the Running balance row with a Surcharge or Overpayment label, so the final amount in the summary comes as no surprise.
Before submitting, Retino checks the availability of the selected goods directly in the shop. The portal refuses a sold-out item and asks the customer to change their selection.
How the exchange reaches you
The submitted request creates a ticket of the selected type, and in its detail you will see the exchange card in the Draft state. The card shows what the customer is returning, what they picked, and the resulting price difference.
Open the draft with the Review & approve button. You can edit it before approving.
The credit can only be lowered, never raised above the price the customer paid. You can Discard an unwanted draft.
We recommend waiting with the approval until the returned goods arrive and you check them. An agent can also create an exchange on the Exchange tab in the ticket detail, even on a ticket that came in without one.
Limitations
The customer cannot pick a different pick-up point than the one from the original order. If they want the goods delivered elsewhere, they choose delivery to an address.
The delivery address can be changed by an agent while editing the draft, not by the customer in the portal.
The credit for the returned goods is always the price the customer paid. The new goods are charged at their current price. If the price went up in the meantime, the difference goes into the surcharge.
Only one exchange can run on a ticket. Another one can be created once the previous one ends.
The new goods must be in the same currency as the original order.
Automations and activities don't react to exchanges yet. You track the exchange state on the card in the ticket detail.
What happens after approval
The work doesn't end with the approval: a replacement order is created, the surcharge or overpayment gets settled, and the accounting documents are issued. How much of this Retino does on its own depends on the Automation scope setting.
On Shoptet, Retino can create the replacement order directly in the shop and issue its documents. The whole process is described in the article Exchanges in Shoptet.
On other platforms, the Exchange drafts scope is available for now: the exchange ends as an approved draft on the ticket, and you handle the order and the documents in your shop manually.