Switch to Exchange

Reduce refunds by offering customers an incentive to switch their refund requests to exchanges instead.

What is Switch to Exchange?

The Switch to Exchange feature is designed to help you reduce the number of refunds issued to customers. It does this by enabling you to offer customers who request a refund the option to exchange their product instead, with an added incentive. 

As a result, you retain the revenue rather than refunding it, possibly even generating new revenue if the customer exchanges for a more expensive product. Additionally, this increases customer loyalty since customers are more likely to shop again later to redeem their remaining bonus credits.

Capabilities

The Switch to Exchange feature supports:

• • Refund to exchange conversion -  Offering incentives to customers to convert refund requests to exchanges.
  • Eligibility by return reason - Defining eligible return reasons and exchange types.
  • Customized incentive -  Customizing the incentive type (fixed or percentage), virtual currency type, and maximum amount.
  • Switch to Exchange portal screen -  Adding a Switch to Exchange proposal screen in the portal, encouraging customers to switch to an exchange to get an incentive.
  • Abuse prevention mechanisms - Safeguards such as one-time-per-RMA limits to prevent abuse.
  • Data-driven analytics - Tracking detailed analytics to measure the effect of the feature on business performance.

Requirements

To use Switch to Exchange, you’ll need:

• The Switch to Exchange feature enabled in your ReturnGO account.
• At least one policy rule with both a refund to payment method resolution and a variant exchange or product exchange resolution.
• At least one return reason that is set as eligible for Switch to Exchange.
• The portal set up to use the combined action and item selection screen.

How Switch to Exchange Works

Here’s how the feature works:

1. When customers request to return an eligible item (that is also eligible for an exchange resolution) and select an eligible return reason, they will see the summary screen, as usual.
2. Upon clicking NEXT, customers will be redirected to the Switch to Exchange screen, showing all the returned items that are eligible for Switch to Exchange.
3. Customers will be able to choose which of the items they would like to exchange instead of return, getting the added incentive.

4. Depending on their selection, customers will be redirected to the variant selection or product search page, where they can choose a new product using the added incentive.
5. After the customer exchanges all the returned items, they are brought back to the summary screen, which will be updated to reflect their new selections.
6. Once the RMA has been created, the RMA page will have an indication of whether each item was issued an incentive, and the Balance section will show how much of the incentive was used in the exchange.

7. Exchange incentives will be used to cover price differences on exchanged items or to pay any pending fees. Any remaining incentive will be sent to the customer when the exchange is released.

Setting Up Switch to Exchange

To set up the Switch to Exchange feature:

1. Go to Settings > Store Settings
2. Open the Refunds Prevention section.
3. Enable the Encourage Customers to Switch Refunds to Exchanges toggle.
4. Choose the type of virtual currency to issue, such as store credit or new gift cards.
5. Set the incentive type, whether it's a fixed amount or a percentage.
6. Define the amount given per item.
7. Click on the save icon to save your changes.

Setting Return Reason Eligibility

Since eligibility for Switch to Exchange is based on return reasons, you'll need to define which reasons are eligible for Switch to Exchange.

1. Go to the Settings > Return Reasons page.

2. Click on the return reason you want to set to be eligible.

3. Enable the Switch to Exchange feature for the relevant return reasons.
4. Select the exchange types available for each return reason.
5. Click on the save icon to save your changes.

Customizing the Text of Switch to Exchange

You can customize the text that appears on the Switch to Exchange offer screen of the portal. To do so:

1. Go to Settings > Portal > Content.

2. Click on TRANSLATE.

3. Click the pencil icon next to the language you want to edit

4. Open the Return Portal section.

5. Customize and translate the Switch to Exchange offer screen text.

6. Click SAVE.

Abuse Prevention

In order to prevent situations where customers might abuse the Switch to Exchange feature and receive incentives they are not eligible for, we have implemented these abuse prevention measures:

• The feature can be used only once per RMA.
• The Switch to Exchange screen will appear only once per session.
• The Switch to Exchange screen includes only items selected for refund initially on the Items Selection screen.
  • This will prevent customers from returning to the Items Selection screen to modify other items for a refund.
• Exchange orders are not eligible for Switch to Exchange.

Additionally, the Switch to Exchange feature is linked to the customers' ReturnScore score, which is in place to prevent abuse. ReturnScore is ReturnGO’s AI-based refund system that offers your customers options based on their history and your configurations.