Returns & Cancellations
Most of the time customers will return the item to the Best Buy store location. Once the return is processed at Best Buy, a workflow will be triggered to update the order status and refund on Shopify. The refund amount will be calculated and issued to the customer via the Merchant’s Shopify account. Upon installing the Best Buy Fulfillment app, the refund workflow will automatically be installed, therefore merchants will not need to do anything to set this up.
How does it work behind the scenes?
When a customer returns an item or an order was canceled after being purchased through Best Buy BOPIS, Alloy Automation will trigger the refund process through Shopify and reflect the order status in the Shopify UI for the merchant. Broadly speaking, and for the purposes of understanding the return and cancellation flow specifically, the relevant lifecycles are as follows:
| Line item Lifecycle | Alloy Action |
|---|---|
| SENT_FOR_FULFILLMENT -> CREATED -> READY_FOR_PICKUP -> PICKED_UP | No action taken |
| SENT_FOR_FULFILLMENT -> CREATED -> CANCELED | Cancel and refund in Shopify |
| SENT_FOR_FULFILLMENT -> CREATED -> READY_FOR_PICKUP -> CANCELED | Cancel and refund in Shopify |
| SENT_FOR_FULFILLMENT -> CREATED -> READY_FOR_PICKUP -> PICKED_UP -> RETURNED | Refund in Shopify |
When it comes to refunds, we will use the following Shopify endpoints:
- Calculates a refund - Used to understand if line items may have already been refunded and how much to refund.
- [Creates a refund](https://shopify.dev/docs
When it comes to cancellations, we will use the endpoints:
- Cancel a fulfillment - Fulfillments (which we create upon order creation) need to be canceled before the order can be.
- Cancel an order - Note that while orders cannot be partially canceled, they can be partially refunded. If only one line item is canceled, we will cancel the full order but only refund the relevant line item. Canceling an order gives it a canceled indicator on Shopify and prevents the order from being edited via the Shopify UI.
Here’s what the orders could potentially look like in the different stages of the life cycle (ignored the “Test order” section, merchants will not see that. Order immediately after placement (order is created in a fulfilled state)
- Order partially canceled (one or more line items returned or canceled)
- Order fully canceled (single line item return, single cancelation)
- Order fully canceled (single line item return, single cancelation)