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POST-002After the order

Returns can be started online

Checks whether a shopper, or an agent acting for them, can start a return on your website without an account and without emailing a person.

What we check

We look for a returns form that identifies the order (an order number or RMA field) and asks for at least one more thing, such as the email, item, reason or postcode. Login, search, newsletter and general message forms do not count. A returns link that points to your shop's own address on a dedicated returns portal (such as Loop, Happy Returns or ReturnGO) also counts.

Why it matters

Returns are a common task a shopper hands to an agent. With a returns form and the order confirmation, the agent can finish it. If returns only work by email, inside an account, or via a PDF, it has to hand the task back.

How we check

We follow links naming a returns action first ("Start a return", "Retoure anmelden"), then plain returns links, then the returns policy URL our crawl found, then paths such as /returns and /returns/start, with at most 4 extra requests.

PASS: such a form, or a link to your portal on a known returns platform (not opened). WARN: the returns page shows a login form instead. FAIL: returns exist only as a PDF or embedded document, are described with nothing to start, or no returns page was found. SKIPPED when a linked returns page needs JavaScript to show anything, when returns live on another host we do not fetch, when the returns page our crawl found was unreadable, or when the crawl was too thin or blocked to judge.

How to fix it

  1. Add a returns page with a form where a shopper enters the order number plus the email, the item or a reason, with no account required.
  2. Link it as "Start a return" from the footer and the returns policy page; if you use a hosted returns portal, link straight to your shop's portal address.
  3. Do not publish the returns process only as a PDF; keep the policy as HTML text.
  4. If returns run only inside the customer account, add a guest route using the order number and email.

What good looks like

<a href="/returns/start">Start a return</a>

<form action="/returns/start" method="post">
  <label for="order_number">Order number</label>
  <input id="order_number" name="order_number" type="text">
  <label for="email">Email used at checkout</label>
  <input id="email" name="email" type="email">
  <button type="submit">Start return</button>
</form>

Sources