UpStart Commerce Services
Return Policy

Key Concepts

13min

This section provides a foundational overview of key concepts essential to the Return Policy service within our UpStart Commerce Portal. These concepts are fundamental building blocks, enabling businesses to manage and optimize their return policies effectively. By understanding these core elements, businesses can ensure accurate policy enforcement, offer clear return conditions, and enhance overall customer satisfaction via transparency.

Return Policy Groups

The Return Policy Groups provide information on different groups within the return policy, ensuring tailored and specific return conditions.

Group

Groups are used to organize return policies according to product categories or item types. By defining groups based on product lines, businesses can ensure that return conditions are applied consistently and accurately to relevant products. This method streamlines policy management, providing a clear overview of which policies apply to each group of products. It allows for effective and organized application of return rules, enhancing both operational efficiency and clarity.

Trigger Group

The Trigger Group is configured to define which items in a customer's cart will prompt a notification for return policy eligibility. The configuration can be based on either a product or an SKU:

Product Type Selection

When a product is selected as the type for triggering the return policy, all its variants (SKUs) are automatically included in the trigger group.

Effect: If a customer adds this product or any of its variants to their cart, they will receive a notification to add an item from the Qualify Group to become eligible for the return policy. This setup ensures that the entire product line is covered, simplifying the return process for items with multiple variants.

SKU Type Selection

When SKU is chosen as the type for the trigger group, after selecting a product from the catalog, a specific variant can be chosen.

Effect: If the customer adds this specific variant to their cart, they will receive a notification prompting them to add a corresponding item from the Qualify Group. This allows for more granular control, ensuring that only specific variants trigger the return policy notification.

Qualify Group

The Qualify Group is set up to define the items that need to be in a customer’s cart to make them eligible for the return policy. It can also be configured based on either a product or an SKU.

Product Type Selection

When a product is selected as the type for the Qualify Group, all its variants are automatically included.

Effect: If any variant of the selected product is added to the customer’s cart, it will qualify them for the return policy. This setup is useful when any variant of a product is acceptable to meet the return conditions.

SKU Type Selection

When SKU is chosen as the type for the Qualify Group, a specific variant of a product can be selected.

Effect: Only the specific variant needs to be added to the cart for the customer to qualify for the return policy. This approach offers precise control over which items qualify for the return, allowing businesses to tailor their return policies to specific inventory items.

Key Difference Between Trigger and Qualify Group

Trigger Group

Determines which items will notify the customer to add qualifying items to their cart in order to make the trigger item eligible for return. A product selection covers all variants, while SKU selection targets specific variants.

Qualify Group

Defines what item(s) needs to be in the customer's cart for the trigger items to be eligible for returns. A product selection includes all its variants, while an SKU selection specifies a particular variant needed.

Placeholders

Placeholders play a crucial role in customizing the email and cart messages by dynamically inserting relevant information based on the specific context of a customer's cart or return scenario. These placeholders ensure that communications are clear, accurate, and tailored to the situation at hand.

  1. {{return_policy}}
    • Displays the name of the return policy.
  2. {{return_policy_group}}
    • Shows the name of the return policy group associated with the current policy.
  3. {{trigger_group_names}}
    • Provides a comma-separated list of product and SKU names from the trigger group, which are the items that prompt a notification for return eligibility.
  4. {{qualifying_group_names}}
    • Displays a comma-separated list of product and SKU names from the qualifying group, which are the items required in the cart to meet the return policy conditions.
  5. {{bought_group_names}}
    • Lists the product and SKU names from the trigger group that are currently in the shopping cart.
  6. {{required_quantity}}
    • Shows the number of items from the trigger group currently in the shopping cart.
  7. {{bought_quantity}}
    • Indicates the number of items from the qualifying group currently in the shopping cart.
  8. {{missing_quantity}}
    • Displays the number of additional items from the qualifying group that need to be purchased to meet the return policy requirements.

These placeholders are particularly useful for developers as they return product and SKU IDs rather than names.

  1. {{trigger_group}}
    • Provides a comma-separated list of SKU and product IDs from the trigger group.
  2. {{qualifying_group}}
    • Displays a comma-separated list of SKU and product IDs from the qualifying group.
  3. {{bought_group}}
    • Lists the product and SKU IDs from the qualifying group that are currently in the shopping cart.

Example Use of Placeholders

Let's consider a return policy named "Smart-TV Return Policy" with the following setup:

  • Trigger Group:
    • Product: Zenith Pro 4K Ultra HD Smart TV
    • SKU: Vortex 65-Inch TV
  • Qualifying Group:
    • SKU: NovaShield Premium TV Screen Protector
    • Product: Horizon Audio Soundbar System
  • Cart Content:
    • 3x Vortex 65-Inch TV
    • 1x Horizon Audio Soundbar System

Given this scenario, the placeholder values would be substituted as follows:

  1. {{trigger_group}}
    • Value: product ID: prod2240017, product ID: prod2610022 with SKU ID: MA-NFKY9F
  2. {{trigger_group_names}}
    • Value: Zenith Pro 4K Ultra HD Smart TV, Vortex 65-Inch TV
  3. {{qualifying_group}}
    • Value: product ID: f4255af5-0635-47df-b2f6-e94650389f7a with SKU ID: MP-CSMPK and/or product ID: 18ea968f-ab85-4d93-bdef-375979d1a4cf
  4. {{qualifying_group_names}}
    • Value: NovaShield Premium TV Screen Protector and/or Horizon Audio Soundbar System
  5. {{bought_group}}
    • Value: product ID: prod2610022 with SKU ID: MS-NFKY9K
  6. {{bought_group_names}}
    • Value: Vortex 65-Inch TV
  7. {{required_quantity}}
    • Value: 3
  8. {{bought_quantity}}
    • Value: 1
  9. {{missing_quantity}}
    • Value: 2

Cart Message

The primary purpose of the Cart Message is to clarify the return policy and any specific conditions that must be met for customers to qualify for returns. This message can include various elements, such as required purchase quantities or matching items, ensuring customers are aware of the necessary criteria.

Cart messages can be customized using specific templates with placeholders enclosed in double curly braces. These placeholders dynamically insert relevant information based on the customer's cart contents.

In case, where no items from the qualifying group are in the cart, the following message can be used:

Example: The following items are not qualified for the return policy: {{trigger_group_names}}. Please add the following item(s) from the {{qualifying_group_names}} to become eligible for the return policy.

In case the customer has added the item from the qualifying group but the quantity of items from the trigger group doesn't match the quantity of items from the qualifying group the following message could be used:

Example: The following items are not qualified for the return policy: {{trigger_group_names}}. You have {{required_quantity}} of these item(s), but only {{bought_quantity}} matching item(s) from the {{qualifying_group_names}}. Please buy an additional {{missing_quantity}} of {{qualifying_group_names}} to qualify for the return policy.

Hence, if a customer buys 3 Keystone King Mattress that belong to the trigger group and has added only 1 mattress protector from the qualifying group. The cart message displayed on the customer screen at the checkout process would be:

Example: The following items are not qualified for the return policy: Memory Foam Mattress. You have 3 of these item(s), but only 1 matching mattress protector(s). Please buy an additional 2 mattress protectors to qualify for the return policy.

Email Message

The primary purpose of the Email Message is to notify the customer once they qualify for a return, after adding the required item(s) from the qualifying group to their cart following the addition of a triggered item.

Email messages can be customized using specific templates with placeholders enclosed in double curly braces. These placeholders dynamically insert relevant information based on the customer's cart and return eligibility.

Example: The cart qualifies for the {{return_policy}}.

Activation and Deactivation Dates

The Activation Date sets when a return policy begins, while the Deactivation Date specifies when it ends. These dates define the period during which the policy is active and enforceable, ensuring accurate application and management of return conditions.