How Do I Handle Size Exchanges Without the Back-and-Forth?
Offer the right size in the same chat, and record why the first one didn’t fit. AeroChat verifies the order in Shopify, checks your return window, asks whether it was too small or too big, and offers only the sizes that are in stock. It opens the return request with the size the customer wants in exchange and tags the order with the fit reason, so you can see which products come back for size. It works on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, web chat and email.
Why exchanges take so many messages
Apparel sellers on the Shopify Community describe the same loop. A customer writes “it didn’t fit” by email or WhatsApp. Someone finds the order, asks which size they want instead, checks stock, finds it sold out, offers another color, and explains how to send the first one back. The refund or swap gets done, but the reason is never written down, so nobody can tell which products keep coming back for fit.
Other merchants want an exchange form that only lists in-stock sizes, an updated receipt at the end of an exchange, or a way around a warehouse partner that doesn’t support Shopify’s exchange features. And many point out that size returns start before the order, with size charts that don’t say whether they show body or garment measurements.
The usual fixes and their limits
- Handle exchanges by email. It costs nothing and every case gets a personal reply. Each one takes several messages and a stock check.
- Shopify’s self-serve returns. Customers can request a return from their order status page within the rules you set. Questions about which size to pick still arrive by chat or email.
- An exchanges app. These offer in-stock variants, labels and instant exchanges. They add a fee per month or per return, which small stores find hard to justify at low volume.
- Better size charts. Clear charts cut size returns before they happen. They don’t help the customer whose order already arrived.
How to handle it in chat with AeroChat
The customer messages you on the channel they use. AeroChat verifies them against the order in Shopify, checks the delivery date against your return window and asks whether the item was too small or too big. It checks your synced catalog for the next size in stock, offers it, and if that size is sold out, offers another color or a return instead. Then it opens the return request in Shopify with the reason, adds a note with the exchange size, and tags the order “fit: too small” or “fit: too big”. Your team approves it as usual. For shoppers who ask before buying, AeroChat answers from your size guide.
Customer: The running shorts are too tight. Can I swap for a bigger size? Order #9032, jay@example.com (example)
AeroChat: Thanks, Jay. Order #9032 arrived 6 days ago, so it’s within our 30-day window (example). You have the Stride shorts in M, black. Size L in black is in stock. Shall I set up the exchange for L?
Customer: Yes please.
AeroChat: Done. I’ve submitted your exchange request for the Stride shorts, M to L. Our team will send the return instructions here once it’s approved.
In Shopify: a return request for the Stride shorts, reason “size too small”, appears on order #9032 with the note “Exchange for L, black”. The order is tagged “fit: too small”.
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer says an item didn’t fit, follow these steps.
- Ask for their order number and the email or phone number they ordered with. Verify them against the order in Shopify.
- Check the delivery date against our 30-day return window (example). If it is outside the window, explain our policy and hand the conversation to our team.
- Ask whether it was too small or too big.
- Check which sizes of the same product and color are in stock. Offer only sizes that are in stock. If none are, offer another color in their size or a normal return.
- When they choose, open a return request in Shopify for the item with the reason, add a note “Exchange for [size, color]”, and tag the order “fit: too small” or “fit: too big”.
- Tell them the request is submitted and our team will send the return instructions. Never promise the new item ships before the return is approved.
Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the return window and the tag names to match how your team filters orders before you paste it.
What to connect
- Your Shopify store. Built in. Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store and connect your store. AeroChat verifies the customer, reads the order and checks sizes and stock from your synced catalog. The return request, note and tag go to Shopify through its Admin API in the workflow you describe.
- Your size guide and returns policy. Add them to your product pages or AeroChat’s knowledge.
- A shipping tool, if you send return labels. Shippo and Sendcloud can create a return label through their APIs once your team approves the exchange.
Questions
Does AeroChat ship the new size automatically?
No. It opens the return request with the exchange size in a note. Your team approves it and sends the new size, as you do today.
How do I see which products come back for fit?
Filter your orders in Shopify by the “fit: too small” and “fit: too big” tags. Over a few weeks you can see which products run small or large.
What if the size they want is sold out?
AeroChat offers another color in that size, or a normal return instead, from the stock in your synced catalog.
Can it help shoppers choose the right size before they buy?
Yes. See recommending the right product in chat, which uses your size guide.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
Swap sizes in one conversation
Install AeroChat, paste the exchange recipe, and ask your own store chat to swap a size on a test order.
7-day free trial.