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Analytics Reference

Refund Methods

See which refund methods customers prefer and where exchanges out-perform refunds.

Refund Methods analytics tells you how your customers are getting their money back: refund to original payment, store credit, exchange for a different item, or partial refund. The mix matters because each method has very different cost and retention implications.

The three buckets

  • Refund to original — The customer’s money goes back to their card / PayPal / wallet. Highest cost (you lose the entire sale plus the payment processing fee on both legs) and lowest retention (the relationship ends).
  • Store credit — The customer keeps the dollar value as credit on file. Mid cost (you keep the cash, you owe a future fulfilment), high retention (the credit pulls them back).
  • Exchange — The customer swaps for a different item or variant. Lowest cost (no cash leaves the business at all) and highest retention.

Reading the chart

A 100% stacked bar chart by week or month, depending on your selected period. Each bar shows the share of refunds in each method. Hover any segment for the absolute count and total dollar value.

What “good” looks like

There’s no universal benchmark — the right mix depends on your category and pricing. As a rough guide for apparel:

  • Refund to original: < 50% of returns. Above this, you’re leaving money on the table by not offering exchanges or credit.
  • Store credit: 15-30%. Higher if you have a loyal customer base and a promotional credit nudge.
  • Exchange: 20-40%. Higher in apparel where size swaps are common.

Levers

The mix isn’t fixed — you can move it. The biggest wins come from your returns flow design (which is owned by your returns app, not RefundSentry):

  • Default-to-store-credit incentive — Offer 110% in credit vs. 100% in refund. Most stores see a 30-40% shift toward credit.
  • Easy size exchange flow — Show available sizes inline at the moment of return. Captures customers who would otherwise have refunded.
  • Refund to credit on suspicious returns — Use a workflow to require credit (vs. cash refund) for HIGH-risk customers. Reduces wardrobing payoff dramatically.

Risk correlation

Refund-to-original is the highest-payoff outcome for a fraudster — they get their money back and disappear. Watch for HIGH-risk customers who are exclusively refund-to-original; that’s often a marker for serial wardrobing. The Refund Methods chart will surface these patterns when filtered by risk zone.

Next steps