Start Returns on WhatsApp with AfterShip Returns

Yes. AeroChat works directly with AfterShip Returns. When a shopper asks to return something, it checks the order in Shopify, asks which item and why, and creates a refund return in AfterShip Returns, or sends a pre-filled link to your returns page.

This recipe answers “can I return this?” and “how do I send it back?” in chat, from your Shopify orders and AfterShip Returns. Part of connecting AfterShip Returns to WhatsApp and AI chat.

What happens today

A shopper wants to send something back and messages you rather than looking for the returns page. Your team replies with the link, the shopper can’t find their order number, and the conversation goes back and forth before a return is even started. Some shoppers give up and file a dispute with their card company instead.

The flow that works

The shopper says they want to return an item.
AeroChat finds the order in Shopify and checks it is within your returns window.
It asks which item and why, and accepts a photo if the item is damaged.
For a refund, it creates the return in AfterShip Returns and gives the RMA number. For anything else, it sends a pre-filled link to your returns page.

What it looks like on WhatsApp

Customer: I want to return the Cove sandals from order #2918, they hurt my feet. (example)

AeroChat: Sorry to hear that. Order #2918 is within our 30-day returns window. Would you like a refund to your original payment, or store credit?

Customer: Refund.

AeroChat: Your return is submitted under RMA B4N8T2XC. We’ll email you the next steps once it is approved.

In AfterShip Returns: a new refund return for the Cove sandals on order #2918, reason “Uncomfortable”, appears for your usual approval.

The recipe

Copy this into AeroChat

When a shopper wants to return an item, follow these steps.

Ask for the order number and the email on the order, and find the order in Shopify.

Check the order date against our returns window and final-sale rules in the knowledge base. If it is outside them, say so politely and hand the conversation to our team if they ask for an exception.

Ask which item and why. If they say it arrived damaged, ask for a photo.

Ask whether they want a refund to the original payment or store credit.

Create a refund return in AfterShip Returns for that item, with the reason, the refund destination and any photos, and give them the RMA number.

If they want an exchange, create a returns page link for the order and send it instead.

Never approve the return or promise a refund amount. Reply in the customer’s language.

Change the returns window and refund options to match your policy before you paste it.

What to connect

Your Shopify store. Built in. Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store and connect your store in the dashboard, so AeroChat can find orders and their items.
AfterShip Returns. Log in to AfterShip, open the API keys page, click Create an API key and copy it. Paste it in when AeroChat asks. AfterShip lists the Returns API on Premium and above (as of November 2026).
Your knowledge base. Add your returns window and final-sale rules, so AeroChat can check them before it starts a return.

After you paste the recipe, AeroChat builds the workflow as a draft and shows a checklist: connect AfterShip Returns, add your knowledge base if the recipe uses one, then switch it on. If it built the connection from AfterShip’s public documentation, the checklist asks you to check it once against the current docs.

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.

What you still decide

Your returns window, final-sale items and approval rules, which stay in AfterShip Returns.
Whether shoppers can choose store credit as well as a refund.
Which requests go to your team instead of a return.

The result to expect

Shoppers start a return in the same chat they asked in, in under a minute, with the right order and item. Your team reviews returns in AfterShip Returns as usual, without the back and forth.

Measure it with your own numbers: returns started in chat, time from first message to submitted return, and card disputes, for a month before and after.

Next: see every AfterShip Returns workflow, including exchanges for a different size.

Works on every chat channel

This workflow runs the same way on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, the chat on your store and email, with the same AfterShip Returns connection behind it. See what each channel does on the AfterShip Returns integration page.

Start your first return in chat

Install AeroChat, paste the recipe, add your AfterShip key, and ask your own chat to return an item from a test order.

Install AeroChat on Shopify

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