When a customer starts a return, you can offer them more than a refund. Shop Now lets them exchange for something new straight away, and Shop Later gives them a gift card to spend whenever they like. This article explains how each option works, what each one is worth to the customer, and how to decide which to offer.
✅ This article covers Returns V2. If you are on Returns V1, see Exchange for Something Else Feature (Returns V1).
Shop Now and Shop Later at a glance
| Shop Now | Shop Later |
What the customer gets | A replacement item, chosen during the return | A gift card for the value of their return |
When they get it | Immediately — they choose before finishing the return | After the return is approved |
Where they shop | In the Swap portal, or in your Shopify storefront | Anywhere in your store, whenever they choose |
Incentive | The Shop Now bonus, applied as a discount on the exchange | A bonus percentage added to the gift card value |
Good for | Turning a return into an immediate sale | Customers who know they want to buy again, but not yet |
Both keep the money with your store instead of refunding it, and both can carry an incentive. They are configured separately, so you can offer either, both, or neither alongside refunds.
Shop Now
Shop Now lets a customer exchange their return for a different item, rather than waiting for a refund or a gift card. You may also see it called Exchange for Something Else, or EFSE — the older name, which still appears in your advanced rules and exchange settings.
There are two formats. Both do the same job; the difference is where the customer browses.
In-swap
The customer stays in the Swap returns portal. It shows products from your store and keeps a running total of what they have to spend, based on the value of their return plus any bonus.
In-store
The customer is sent to your Shopify storefront and picks from your live product catalogue, then comes back to Swap to finish the return. This needs setup in both Shopify and Swap — see In-Store Shop Now Experience (Returns V2).
If the in-store experience cannot run for any reason, Swap falls back to the in-swap flow, so the customer can still complete their exchange.
The Shop Now bonus
You can add a percentage on top of the value of the returned items, so the customer has more to spend than their return was worth. It is applied as a discount on the exchange item, not as a credit balance.
For example, a customer returning a €50 item with a 10% bonus has €55 to spend, which makes a higher-value item more appealing.
For how the figure is calculated, when it does not apply, and how it appears in Shopify, see Understanding the Shop Now bonus calculation.
Shop Later
Shop Later gives the customer a gift card for the value of their return, to spend whenever they like. Nothing is exchanged at the time of the return.
How the gift card is issued
The gift card is created once the return is approved. Which system issues it depends on your setup:
If you have Rise.ai connected, Rise.ai takes precedence and issues the credit.
Otherwise Swap issues a gift card, and you can choose to use native Shopify gift cards with the Use Shopify native gift cards setting.
Shopify store credit is a separate option with its own behaviour — see Refund to Shopify Store Credit.
The Shop Later bonus
Shop Later has its own incentive, set independently of the Shop Now bonus. Adding a percentage increases the gift card's value and encourages the customer to come back.
What each option is worth
The three outcomes pay out on different amounts, which is worth understanding before you set your percentages.
Shop Now: the value of the returned items plus the Shop Now bonus.
Shop Later: the value of the returned items plus the Shop Later bonus.
Refund: the value of the returned items only. No bonus is included, because a bonus is an incentive to keep shopping rather than cash.
If a customer chooses Shop Now, then changes their mind and takes the remaining value as Shop Later credit, they receive the Shop Later bonus on that remainder, not the Shop Now bonus.
Enabling Shop Now and Shop Later
Shop Later is enabled under Returns → Settings → Discounts & Credit, in the Gift cards panel:
Turn on Enable shop later via gift cards.
Optionally set Bonus amount (% of return value) to add an incentive.
Choose whether to use Use Shopify native gift cards.
Shop Now is enabled under Returns → Settings → Exchanges, in the Exchange options panel. Domestic and international exchanges are controlled separately, so you can offer Shop Now to one and not the other:
Under Domestic exchanges or International exchanges, tick Allow exchanges for a different product (Shop Now).
Turn on Add a discount for the 'Shop Now' option if you want to offer an incentive.
Set Discount (up to % of return value) to your percentage.
The same panel has Allow exchanges for a different variant, which controls like-for-like variant exchanges. That is a separate option from Shop Now — a customer swapping a size is not choosing something new.
Both Shop Now and Shop Later can also be restricted by advanced rules, so you can offer them selectively rather than to every customer.
Choosing where customers shop
The Portal exchange experience panel on the same tab is where you pick between the two Shop Now formats. Swap Exchange keeps customers in the Swap portal; In-Shop Exchange sends them to your storefront. The active choice is marked Active.
With Swap Exchange, you also choose which collections appear in the exchange catalogue, and can set a Safety stock quantity so items are hidden from exchanges once stock falls to that level.