Start AfterShip Returns from WhatsApp
Yes. AeroChat works directly with AfterShip. It collects the items and the reason in the chat, creates the return request in AfterShip Returns, and reads the return’s status when the customer asks for an update.
This recipe turns “can I return this?” messages into return requests in AfterShip Returns, without sending the customer to a portal and hoping they finish it. Part of connecting AfterShip to WhatsApp and AI chat.
What happens today
A customer messages on WhatsApp or Instagram to say a size is wrong or an item arrived damaged. Someone replies with the returns portal link and the policy. Some customers use it. Others reply with more questions, send photos, or wait for a person to do it for them. A week later they message again to ask whether their refund has gone through, and someone looks the return up by hand.
The flow that works
- AeroChat asks for the order number and the email the customer ordered with.
- It confirms which items are coming back, the reason and whether they want a refund.
- It checks your return policy in the knowledge base.
- It creates the return in AfterShip Returns and gives the customer the return number.
- When the customer asks for an update later, it reads the return’s status in AfterShip Returns and replies.
What it looks like on WhatsApp
Customer: Hi, the sneakers from order 5512 are a size too big. Can I send them back? (example)
AeroChat: Sorry about that. I can start a return for the white sneakers in size 42 from order 5512. Would you like a refund?
Customer: Yes please.
AeroChat: Done. Your return number is RMA-2207. Once it is approved, we will email you how to send them back.
In AfterShip Returns: a new return for the sneakers appears on order 5512 with the reason “too big” and refund as the outcome, waiting for approval.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer asks to return or exchange something, follow these steps.
- Ask for their order number and the email they ordered with.
- Confirm which items they want to return, how many, and the reason. If the item arrived damaged, ask for a photo.
- Check our return policy in the knowledge base. If the order is outside the 30-day window (example), or the item cannot be returned, explain the policy kindly and hand over to the team.
- Ask whether they want a refund.
- Create the return in AfterShip Returns with the items, the quantity and the reason.
- Give them the return number and say the return instructions will follow by email once it is approved.
When a customer later asks about a return, find it in AfterShip Returns by the return number or order number and tell them where it stands: waiting for approval, approved, received or resolved. If it was rejected, hand over to the team. If they ask for an exchange, hand over to the team. Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the return window and the items that cannot be returned before you paste it.
What to connect
- AfterShip. Open the API keys page in your AfterShip admin, choose Create an API key and paste it in when AeroChat asks. Returns need AfterShip Returns, a separate AfterShip product, on a plan that includes API access.
- Your knowledge base. Upload your return policy, the return window and the items that cannot be returned, so AeroChat checks them before it creates a return.
After you paste the recipe, AeroChat builds the workflow as a draft and shows a checklist: connect AfterShip, 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 return window and which items can come back.
- Whether returns are approved by your team or by your rules in AfterShip Returns.
- How refunds are issued. AfterShip Returns and your store handle the refund, not AeroChat.
- When a return should come to a person, such as damaged items or exchanges.
The result to expect
Customers start a return in the same conversation where they raised it, at any hour, and get an answer when they ask for an update. Your team reviews returns in AfterShip Returns instead of typing them in from chat.
Measure it with your own numbers: return requests handled by hand in chat, and “where is my refund?” messages, for a month before and after.
Next: answer where-is-my-parcel questions with AfterShip.
Works on every chat channel
This workflow runs the same way on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, TikTok, Telegram, the chat on your website and email, with the same AfterShip connection behind it. See what each channel does on the AfterShip integration page.
Take your first return from chat
Paste the recipe, add your AfterShip API key, and ask to return an item from a test order in the chat yourself.
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On Shopify? Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store.