Handling Returns of Bundles

Last Updated: December 16, 2024

Bundling items together to create attractive offers and give your customers an enjoyable shopping experience in your store requires knowing how to manage returns and exchanges of bundles. ReturnGO helps you handle various bundle scenarios easily.

What Are Bundles?

In simple terms, a bundle is a product that combines other products. For example, a suit that includes both trousers and a jacket. 

When a customer purchases a bundle, all the items within the bundle are fulfilled together. 

How ReturnGO Handles Bundles

ReturnGO adapts its approach based on how products and bundles are set up in your store.

When setting up bundles in your Shopify store, it's important to consider the intended outcome when a customer decides to return only part of their purchase. The way your bundles are configured in your store will determine how ReturnGO handles returns and exchanges.

Let's look at some scenarios and how ReturnGO handles them:

Single SKU Bundle

If you set up the bundle as a single combined SKU in Shopify, and purchasing it creates an order with that single SKU, ReturnGO will display the entire bundle grouped together as one product within the return flow. In this case, the customer can only return or exchange the entire bundle as a whole.

Individual SKUs in Bundle

If the items within the bundle are set up as individual SKUs in Shopify, ReturnGO will display each individual SKU as a separate product within the return flow. This allows customers to return or exchange specific items from the bundle while keeping the rest.

Refunds and Exchanges for Bundle Items

When a customer returns an individual item from a bundle, any discounts applied to that SKU in Shopify will be reflected proportionally in their refund.

If a customer exchanges an individual item from the bundle for another variant, any original discount applied to that SKU will be carried over to their new exchange order. If the exchanged product is of lesser value, the customer will receive the difference as a refund.

Non-Returnable Bundles

When one of the SKUs in the order is the bundle SKU, we recommend marking this SKU as non-returnable. This helps avoid confusion in the return flow, so that customers can return the individual items included in the bundle instead of the main bundle SKU. 

Free Gifts

If the bundle consists of a free gift with purchase, it's recommended to mark the free item as $0 value or apply a 100% discount in Shopify. Additionally, the product should be marked as non-returnable.

Handling Other Bundle Return Scenarios

Here are some suggestions for handling returns of other bundle scenarios:

Bundles with a 100% Discount Item

You can set the exchange price source to Catalog price under Settings > Store Settings, so the customer can exchange the items based on their catalog price rather than their paid price.

Tip: Apply the discount to the individual items instead of the bundle SKU. This ensures correct pricing distribution, enabling customers to receive partial refunds on individual items and exchange them for their paid price.

Bundles Recognized by OMS/WMS/ERP

When bundles are set up as a single SKU and your Order Management System (OMS), Warehouse Management System (WMS), or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) recognizes them as bundles, you can set up a manual exchange resolution and policy and manually handle partial refunds or exchanges.

Setting Bundle Eligibility and Conditions

ReturnGO's complex return policy editor provides various eligibility conditions for items. 

To set specific items in the bundle to be non-returnable, you can set them as such based on name, SKU, or tag. 

Differentiating bundled items from individually purchased items can be done using conditions like item tags, discounts, discount codes, or custom attributes.