Refunding Orders with Store Credit (Limited Access)
Store credit gives you more flexible ways to handle refunds. When a customer returns an item or an order is canceled, you can put the store credit they spent back into their balance, refund the order as new store credit, or split the refund between store credit and the original payment method. For example, you might refund a return as store credit with an expiration date, so the value stays in your store. This guide explains which refund methods are available, how to process each type of store credit refund, and how each refund affects the customer's balance.
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Limited Access: This feature is currently available to selected merchants in the United States and mainland China. Contact your SHOPLINE account manager to enable it for your store. Notes:
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Understanding Store Credit Refund Methods
On an order's refund page, use the Refund method dropdown in the Refund amount card to choose how to refund the customer:
- Refund to original payment method: Sends the money back the way the customer paid. Any store credit they used at checkout goes back into their store credit balance.
- Refund as store credit: Gives the customer the refund as new store credit, no matter how they paid.
- Split refund: Gives part of the refund as new store credit and sends the rest back to the original payment method.
You can use these methods for a regular refund, a refund after a return, or a follow-up refund on the same order.
Orders Eligible for Store Credit Refunds
Refund as store credit and Split refund are only available when the order meets all of these conditions:
- Order type: It's a B2C order placed in your online store, created from a draft order, or created through the Open API. B2B and POS orders aren't supported.
- Customer: The order is linked to a customer account, so the store credit has somewhere to go.
- Settlement currency: Every payment on the order must be settled in the currency of the order's market currency.
If an order doesn't meet these conditions, you'll only see Refund to original payment method.
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Notes:
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Refunding Store Credit to the Original Payment Method
If the customer paid with store credit, you can put that amount back into their existing store credit balance instead of issuing new store credit. When an order is canceled, store credit is always refunded this way.
To return store credit the customer used at checkout:
- In your SHOPLINE admin, go to Orders and open the order. Click Refund in the upper-right corner.
- Select the products and quantities to refund, if needed.
- In the Refund amount card, select Refund to original payment method from the Refund method dropdown.
- In the Store credit field, enter the amount to return. The maximum you can refund appears below the field.
| Note: If the store credit has an expiration date, a message shows how much will be returned and when it expires. If the amount comes from several balances, you'll see a date range. The message also tells you if any part has already expired. To give the customer new store credit instead, click Refund as store credit instead in the message. The refund method then changes to Split refund. |
- Choose whether to notify the customer, then click Refund.
| Note: Store credit always goes straight back to the customer's balance, so you can't use Mark as refund for it. To learn more about marking refunds, see "Creating Return and Refund Requests for Orders." |
How Returned Store Credit Is Added Back
Returned store credit goes back to the original balances: No new balance is created, and the following rules apply:
- Expiration dates stay the same: Each amount keeps the expiration date of the balance it came from.
- Last used, first returned: The balance used last at checkout is refunded first, followed by the ones used before it.
- Expired credit expires again: If a balance has already expired, the amount returned to it expires right away, and an expiration record is added to the transaction history.
- Partial and multiple refunds: You can refund an order more than once, but the total returned to store credit can't be more than the customer paid with store credit on that order.
- Transaction record: A deposit record is added with the event Order refund and the order number. The source shows the staff member or app that issued the refund.
| Example: A customer used US$60.00 in store credit on an order. It came from three balances, used in this order: A (US$20.00, now expired), B (US$30.00, expires October 1), and C (US$10.00, never expires). If you refund US$50.00, the system returns US$10.00 to C, US$30.00 to B, and US$10.00 to A. Because balance A has expired, its US$10.00 expires immediately, so the customer's usable balance goes up by US$40.00. |
Refunding an Order as New Store Credit
Refunding as store credit adds a new, separate balance to the customer's account. You can use it whether or not the customer paid with store credit. For example, you can offer store credit instead of cash when a customer returns an item.
To refund an order as new store credit:
- In your SHOPLINE admin, go to Orders and open the order. Click Refund in the upper-right corner.
- Select the products and quantities to refund, if needed.
- In the Refund amount card, select Refund as store credit from the Refund method dropdown.
- In the Refund as store credit field, enter the amount. The maximum you can refund appears below the field.
| Note: If you've selected products, the field is filled in with a suggested amount. You can change it if needed. |
- (Optional) To make the credit expire, click + Add expiration date and pick a date. The credit expires at the end of that day. To remove the date before you submit the refund, hover over it and click the clear icon.
| Important: You can't change or remove the expiration date once the refund is done. Store credit expiration rules vary by country and region, so make sure your date meets local regulations. |
- Choose which notifications to send:
- Send order refund notification to customer: Off by default.
- Send refund success notification to customer: On by default.
- Click Refund. The button shows the total amount, for example Refund$5.00.
How New Store Credit Works
The refund is added as a new balance: After the refund is done, the following applies:
- Kept separate: It doesn't affect the expiration dates of the customer's existing balances.
- Market currency: It's issued in the currency of the market where the order was placed.
- Balance limit: The refund won't go through if it would push the customer's balance over the store credit limit.
- Expiring credit: If you set an expiration date, the credit also appears under Expiring amount in the customer's store credit details.
- Transaction record: A deposit record is added with the event Order refund and the order number. The source shows the staff member or app that issued the refund.
Splitting a Refund Between Store Credit and the Original Payment Method
A split refund lets you send part of the money back to the original payment method and give the rest as new store credit.
To split a refund:
- In your SHOPLINE admin, go to Orders and open the order. Click Refund in the upper-right corner.
- Select the products and quantities to refund, if needed.
- In the Refund amount card, select Split refund from the Refund method dropdown.
- In the Refund as store credit field, enter the amount to give as new store credit. To make it expire, click + Add expiration date.
- In the field for each original payment method, enter the amount to send back.
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Notes:
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- Choose which notifications to send, then click Refund.
| Example: A customer paid US$10.00 for an order. You enter US$3.00 in Refund as store credit and US$2.00 for the original payment method, and the button shows Refund$5.00. After you click it, the customer gets US$3.00 as new store credit and US$2.00 back through their original payment method. |
Important Notes for Store Credit Refunds
- New store credit counts toward the order's refundable amount, along with any money sent back to the original payment method.
- When an order is canceled, any store credit the customer used goes back to their original balance and keeps its expiration date. You can't issue new store credit when canceling an order.
- If you turn off store credit for customer accounts, you can still return store credit that customers used on their orders.
Frequently Asked Questions About Store Credit Refunds
Q1: Why don't I see Refund as store credit or Split refund?
These options only appear for eligible orders. The order must be a B2C order from your online store, a draft order, or the Open API. It must also be linked to a customer, and every payment must be settled in the order's market currency. For details, see the "Orders Eligible for Store Credit Refunds" section above.
Q2: Why did some of the store credit I refunded expire right away?
When you refund to the original payment method, store credit goes back to the balances the customer originally used, and each amount keeps its expiration date. If one of those balances has already expired, the amount returned to it expires immediately. To give the customer credit they can actually use, refund that amount as new store credit instead.
Q3: Can I change or remove the expiration date after the refund?
No. Once the refund is done, the expiration date on the new store credit can't be changed or removed. Double-check the date before you click Refund.
Q4: I refunded an order as store credit, but the customer now wants the money back to their card. What should I do?
Store credit issued as a refund counts toward the order's refunded amount. Once an order is fully refunded, you can't refund it again through the standard refund process. If the customer later requests a refund to their card or another original payment method, you can use the over-refund feature to refund the amount again, then manually deduct the previously issued store credit from their balance to prevent a double refund. Your staff account must have over-refund permission to perform this action.
Example: A customer paid US100.00 by credit card and received US100.00 in store credit as a refund. Later, they request the money back on their card. You over-refund the order to return US100.00 to their card, then deduct US100.00 from their store credit balance. This ensures the customer receives only the original US$100.00 refund.
To over-refund an order:
- On the order's refund page, select Refund to original payment method from the Refund method dropdown.
- Click the lock icon next to the total refundable amount at the top of the card.
- In the pop-up, click Over-refund. The total refundable amount goes up by the amount you already refunded as store credit.
- To undo this, click the icon again and select Cancel over-refund.
- Enter the amounts to refund, then click Refund.
| Important: Over-refunding doesn't take back the store credit you issued earlier. If you only want to swap that store credit for a refund to the original payment method, deduct the same amount from the customer's store credit balance afterward so they aren't refunded twice. For steps, see "Managing Customer Store Credit (Limited Access)". |
Q5: Is store credit the same as Member System store credits?
No. They're two separate features. Store credit is managed on the customer details page, while Member System store credits are managed in the Member System app. Refunding as store credit doesn't affect a customer's Member System store credits, and existing Member System store credits aren't moved into store credit. To refund with Member System store credits, see the "Refunding with Store Credits" section in "Creating Return and Refund Requests for Orders."