Returns, Exchanges, and Cancellations
This article explains how Sumtracker handles inventory adjustments when you process a return, exchange, or cancellation in Shopify or Amazon.
Shopify
How Sumtracker handles returns, exchanges, and cancellations
Sumtracker correctly adjusts your inventory whenever a return, exchange, or cancellation is processed in Shopify. You do not need to manually update your stock in most cases.
Restock or don't restock
When processing a return or cancellation in Shopify, you have the option to Restock or Don't Restock the item. Sumtracker detects whichever option you select and adjusts your inventory accordingly.
- If you select Restock, Sumtracker will add the quantity back to your inventory.
- If you select Don't Restock, Sumtracker will leave your inventory unchanged.
Which warehouse does the stock go back to?
If you have multiple warehouses set up, Sumtracker also detects which warehouse you have selected for restocking in Shopify and updates the correct warehouse in Sumtracker.
My returns are handled by a third-party app. Does Sumtracker work with that?
Yes. As long as the app marks the order as returned in Shopify and correctly selects the Restock or Do Not Restock option, Sumtracker will detect the return and adjust your inventory accordingly. Sumtracker reads directly from Shopify, so any app that updates Shopify orders correctly will work without any additional setup.
Amazon
Sumtracker can automatically add inventory back when Amazon processes a customer return.
Amazon processes returns on a monthly cycle, so Sumtracker syncs returns from the previous month on a weekly basis. Every seven days, Sumtracker checks for returned items and restocks them in your inventory.
đź’ˇ Returnless refunds: If you process a returnless refund on Amazon (where the customer keeps the item), Sumtracker will not restock the product, since no inventory was actually returned.
Known limitations for Shopify returns
Returns on orders created before Sumtracker was connected
Sumtracker only pulls in orders from the day you turn on inventory sync. If you process a return for an order that was created before Sumtracker was connected to your store, Sumtracker will not be able to detect this return and your inventory will not be automatically adjusted.
For example:
- A customer places an order on 20th May
- You turned on inventory sync with Sumtracker for your store on 1st June
- That customer returns the order on 5th June
Because the original order was placed before Sumtracker was connected, Sumtracker has no record of it. When the return is processed on 5th June, Sumtracker will not detect it and your inventory will not be updated.
To fix this, manually adjust the inventory in Sumtracker whenever you process a return for a pre-connection order.
Returning and then cancelling the same order
If you first process a return on an order and then also cancel that same order, Sumtracker will increase your inventory twice — once for the return and once for the cancellation.
For example:
- An order contains 5 units of product ABC
- You process a return on the order — Sumtracker adds 5 units back to your inventory
- You then also cancel the same order — Sumtracker adds another 5 units back to your inventory
- Your inventory has now been increased by 10 units instead of 5
An order should be either marked as returned or marked as cancelled, but not both. Processing both actions on the same order is not recommended and will result in an incorrect inventory count in Sumtracker.
"Do Not Restock" when removing products from a partially fulfilled orders
Sumtracker correctly handles the Do Not Restock option, but only under certain conditions.
If none of the units in an order have been fulfilled yet, and you remove a quantity using Do Not Restock, Sumtracker will correctly avoid restocking and will reduce those units from your In Stock inventory.
For example:
- An order contains 10 units of product ABC
- None of the units have been fulfilled
- You remove 3 units using Do Not Restock
In this case, Sumtracker will correctly reduce those 3 units from your In Stock inventory.
If even 1 unit of that SKU has already been fulfilled, Sumtracker cannot reliably detect the correct inventory behavior. Once an order is partially fulfilled, Shopify does not tell us whether the removed quantity came from the fulfilled items or the remaining unfulfilled items. Thus, Sumtracker automatically restocks the quantity.
For example, if an order contains 10 units of a product “Black T-shirt” and 5 have already been fulfilled, if you reduce the ordered quantity using Do Not Restock, it will not be handled correctly by Sumtracker.
We are currently evaluating the best way to alert users when this situation occurs, and will be introducing a notification mechanism in a future release.