Returns and refunds: the same five steps every time

A return handled well costs you one parcel. A return handled badly costs you the customer, a bad review, and an argument on WhatsApp.

The fix is boring on purpose: the same five steps, in the same order, every time. Storix already runs those steps, so this SOP is mostly about who does what, and when.

Check what your plan allows

Every plan can review, receive and refund a return. What differs is automatic pickup booking: Storix can book the courier pickup for you on Growth and Pro. On Starter, approve the return the same way, then book the courier pickup yourself.

The five steps, in order

Customers send return requests themselves. You find them under Shipping → Returns, on a page titled Return Requests.

1. Review. Open a Pending request, click Review, read the reason and the customer note, then choose Approve or Reject. Answer within one working day.
2. Collect. When you approve, keep automatic pickup booking on and Storix books the return pickup with the courier that delivered the order. This works with Bosta. Clear the box if the customer will send it another way.
3. Receive. When the parcel arrives, click Record receipt. Fill Received quantity for every line, and set Received condition to Resellable or Rejected (damaged or wrong item).
4. Refund. Only a request in Received can be refunded. Read Received refund basis first: the value of the received items after discounts, plus VAT when your prices exclude it. Shipping is not included.
5. Restock. Automatic. Only Resellable units go back on the shelf; rejected units stay out, and pre-order items never return to stock.

You can record the receipt once, and you cannot change it later. Count the items before you type.

Refund by how the customer paid

The route depends on the payment, not on your preference.

• Cash on delivery. The Returns page shows COD Refund, which opens the order. The cash must already be collected. In the COD refund panel pick Bank transfer (IBAN), Vodafone Cash, InstaPay or Orange Cash, type the amount, click Initiate refund, send the money yourself, then add the Reference and click Confirm sent.
• Bank transfer or wallet. Refund creates a refund request only. The order becomes Refund pending until someone marks it sent on Customer payments → Customer refunds.

You can also start these from the New refund wizard on the Customer refunds page: for bank transfer and wallet payments it creates the same refund request, which you mark sent once the money has gone out.

Decide who approves what

Write two lines in your team rules: up to 1,500 EGP, any agent approves the return and the refund; above that, or a second return from the same customer this month, the owner or the ops manager approves. Pick numbers that match your basket, so nobody has to think at 11pm.

Then keep the money split. The person who requests a refund must not be the person who sends it. Storix enforces this: a staff member who requested a refund cannot mark it sent, and gets refund_second_approver_required. The COD panel works the same way, unless you are the store owner.

The note that is not private

When you review a request you can type an Internal note. It is not internal — the approval or rejection email to the customer includes it, word for word.

So write it for the customer's eyes: "Approved, our courier will collect within 2 working days." Keep real internal comments in the order's Internal note instead.

Close the loop

Once a month, read your reasons. Shipping → Returns shows the reason on every row, and Analytics → Shipping splits return shipments into Return to origin, Exchange and Customer return. Look for one repeat — a size chart that lies, a colour that photographs wrong — and fix one cause a month.

Storix runs this SOP end to end: approve the request, record what came back, and it restocks only the resellable units while requiring a second person to confirm the money left — see it on a free store.