Returns without
the back-and-forth
Returns are emotional. A customer who wants their money back doesn't want to dig through your policy page or wait two days for an email reply. OrderWise reads the order, checks the return window — including the DACH 14-day Widerrufsrecht — and starts the return on the spot.
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Returns are where stores lose customers for life
The order was fine, the product was fine, but something didn't fit. Now the customer wants to return it — and how you handle the next ten minutes decides whether they come back or post a one-star review. Most stores handle it badly because the policy is buried, the team is slow, and the customer is already frustrated.
Policy hunting
The customer asks if they can return something. Your agent has to look up the order date, count the days, check the product category for exclusions, and confirm whether the package was unopened. Five tabs, three minutes, one annoyed customer.
DACH Widerrufsrecht confusion
EU consumers have a statutory 14-day right of withdrawal. That's not your store's return policy — it's law. Getting the dates wrong creates legal exposure, but most chatbots don't know what Widerrufsrecht even is.
Refund-rage escalation
Slow returns turn into PayPal disputes, chargebacks, and Trustpilot reviews. A return handled in three minutes is a customer who shops again. A return handled in three days is a refund and a refund-rage tweet.
How OrderWise handles return requests
The AI reads your return policy at install time, then matches every request against the order and the policy. Customers get a clear answer instantly; your team approves the cases that need approval.
- 01
Customer asks about returning something
"Can I send this back?" — "Möchte ich widerrufen." — "This doesn't fit, can I get a refund?" The AI recognizes the intent across the five supported languages and finds the relevant order.
- 02
The AI checks policy + Widerrufsrecht in one step
Your store's policy (e.g. "30 days, unopened") and the EU's 14-day Widerrufsrecht are both checked. If the order is inside the window, the AI explains the conditions in plain language and offers to start the return.
- 03
Refund moves to your Inbox for one-click approval
OrderWise never refunds money on its own. Once the customer confirms, the request lands in your Inbox tab with the order, the reason, and your policy match — approve with one click, refund processed through Shopify.
A return request, end to end
From the first message to a one-click approval — the entire exchange below took 90 seconds of AI time and about 4 seconds of human time.
The owner sees one Inbox item: "Approve return — Order #2091, €69, within Widerrufsrecht, unworn confirmed." One click, done.
Why DACH stores need more than a generic returns bot
The Widerrufsrecht (§§ 355 ff. BGB) is not optional. Every B2C contract concluded online in Germany, Austria, and the wider EU gives the consumer 14 days to withdraw, starting on the day the goods are received. The store has 14 days from receipt to refund. If your chatbot tells a customer the window is shorter, you've created a legal problem.
OrderWise tracks the right starting point: the fulfillment date, not the order date. When a customer asks about returning an item, the AI checks the days-since-delivery, not the days-since-checkout. This matters when shipping is slow — a customer who ordered 16 days ago but received the parcel 5 days ago is still inside the window.
We also separate your store's policy from the statutory right. If your policy is "30 days, no questions asked," the AI tells the customer that's the easier path. If your policy is "14 days, unopened," the AI tells the customer that's the same window as the Widerrufsrecht and explains both options. Customers get the full picture; you don't get a complaint to the Verbraucherzentrale.
For non-DACH stores the flow is the same with the relevant local law substituted: a US store sees a clean refund policy match without the Widerrufsrecht overhead; a UK store sees the 14-day Consumer Contracts Regulations window. The AI uses your shop's primary country to pick the right legal frame.
Returns approval included on every plan
Inbox + one-click approval is standard. Multilingual return handling starts on the Growth plan.
Growth
- Unlimited conversations
- 5 languages, auto-detected
- Analytics + CSV export
Frequently asked questions
- Does the AI process refunds automatically?
- No. Every refund and return moves to your Inbox for one-click approval. OrderWise never withdraws money from your store without a human signing off. This is by design — human-in-the-loop is non-negotiable for sensitive actions.
- Wie geht ihr mit dem Widerrufsrecht um?
- OrderWise rechnet die 14 Tage ab dem Eingang der Ware (nicht der Bestellung). Wenn ein Kunde fragt, prüft die AI das Versanddatum aus Shopify, addiert die Lieferzeit, und nennt das exakte Datum, bis zu dem der Widerruf möglich ist. Bei Nicht-DACH-Stores wird automatisch das relevante lokale Recht (UK 14 Tage, US je nach Bundesstaat) genutzt.
- Can the AI handle exchanges instead of refunds?
- Yes. If a customer asks for a different size, the AI checks inventory in Shopify, suggests the closest available variant, and queues the exchange. You approve, the team ships the new variant, the customer ships back the original.
- What about non-returnable items (final sale, perishables)?
- Tag those products in Shopify with a tag of your choosing (e.g. "final-sale"). OrderWise reads the tag and explains the exclusion politely — "This was a final sale item, but I can offer store credit if you'd like."
- Does it work for digital products?
- Digital goods can be excluded from the Widerrufsrecht in Germany if the customer agreed before download. The AI checks your product type and explains this when relevant. For undelivered digital goods the standard 14-day right still applies.
Turn return requests into one-click approvals.
Your customers get a clear answer in seconds. You get a tidy Inbox and a clean refund flow — without breaking the Widerrufsrecht.
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