Approval chains
Return and replace requests from your online shop go to the right people in the right order before the buyer gets an answer. You set the levels without code, and every decision is kept with who made it and why.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- A buyer asks to return a costly item and a junior staff member says yes on their own.
- Returns above a certain value should go to the owner, small ones should not.
- Nobody can say later who accepted a return and why.
How it works
- A buyer asks to return or replace items on their order page, within your return window after delivery.
- The request waits for approval at once, on the Website return request chain of your Entity. To start with, the Website Managers decide.
- The approvers of the first level are told and find it in Website > Shop > Orders > Returns and in Approvals > To Approve.
- Add levels in Approvals > Configuration > Approval Chains, such as the store manager then the owner, or a chain for some requests only.
- When the last level approves, the request is accepted and the buyer gets your answer by email; a refusal tells the buyer too.
Everything it does
What goes through approval in SmartMy Website
- Return and replace requests from the shop (Growth); this is the only Website chain
- Publishing is not a chain: only Website Managers publish
Who approves a level
- Named users, a group, or the usual approvers (the Website Managers)
- Any one approver of a level decides; for two signatures, add two levels
- If a level has nobody: the request cannot go on (to start with), the level is skipped, or the usual approvers decide
Rules
- Only For: a chain for some requests only, such as refunds rather than replacements, a reason or one site
- A return request carries no amount of its own, so a chain cannot test the value of the items
- Approved at Once: a chain with no approval, when you do not need one
- A reason is needed to reject
- The buyer never decides their own request
Record
- An Approvals tab on each request: level, approver, status, decided by, date and reason
- The request's history shows sent for approval, approved by and rejected by
- Changes to the chain itself are recorded
Who uses it
Website ManagerApproves return and replace requests, the usual approver.
OwnerApproves some returns, such as refunds, through an extra level or a chain for some requests only.
Approvals AdministratorSets the levels, who approves and the conditions, without developer mode.
BuyerAsks for the return or replacement and gets the answer by email and on the order page.
Where you use it
- Web: Website > Shop > Orders > Returns, and Approvals > To Approve and My Requests
- Web: Approvals > Configuration > Approval Chains, grouped under Websites (no menu of its own in Website)
- The published site: the buyer's order page shows the request and your answer
- No phone app for SmartMy Website: approvers decide on the web
What you control
Settings
- Levels and their approvers, per Entity
- If a level has nobody: cannot go on, skip, or usual approvers
- Only For conditions and Approved at Once
- Days after delivery a buyer may ask to return or replace: in the Shop tab (0 means not from the site)
Notifications
- Request Waits for Your Approval: to the approvers of the level that is next, as a phone notification, by email and in the app
- Website Return Request: to the people who follow the site, by email, in the app and as a phone notification
- Website Return Answered: to the buyer by email, when the request is accepted or refused
Questions
Who approves returns if we set nothing up?
The Website Managers. Any one of them can accept or refuse.Can some returns go to the owner?
Yes. Add a chain with Only For, such as refunds rather than replacements or one of your sites, with the owner as a further level. A chain cannot test the value of the returned items today.Does accepting a return refund the buyer?
No. Accepting answers the buyer. Make the refund, credit note or replacement in Sales, Accounting and Inventory, or refund in your payment company's dashboard.Can we turn approval off for returns?
Yes. Set the chain to Approved at Once and requests are accepted when they come in. You still close each one when the item is back.Do we need a developer to change the chain?
No. An Approvals Administrator changes levels, approvers and conditions from the Approvals menu.Related features
SELLING AND MEMBERSReturns and replacements with approvalAfter delivery, buyers ask to return or replace items from their order page, with the reason, a note and a photo. Each request is numbered, goes to your approvers through the approval chain, and the buyer is emailed your answer.ACROSS SMARTMY WEBSITENotificationsSmartMy Website tells your team the moment a form entry, booking, order, return, review or question comes in. Buyers and visitors get their codes, bookings, orders and alerts by email.SELLING AND MEMBERSOrder tracking, receipts and buy againEvery order gets its own page: steps from placed to delivered, the tracking link, a receipt with your tax number, and Buy it again. Your team marks it sent and delivered on the sales order, and the buyer is emailed each time.SELLING AND MEMBERSOnline shop on your websiteSell your products on your own website: a shop page, a page for each product, a cart and a checkout. Each order arrives as an ordinary sales order in your SmartMy records, with the payment, delivery and discount on it.ACROSS SMARTMY WEBSITEWebsite Editor and Manager rolesTwo roles split the work on your website. Editors change pages, words, pictures and the design, and look after entries, bookings and members. Managers also publish, set up the shop and its payments, and own the domains.
See your business on a real design.
Tell us what you do and what the site needs to do: bring enquiries, take bookings, show your work or sell. We will start your site from the closest design with you.