In-Store Shop Now lets customers browse your Shopify storefront during a return and pick their exchange items from your live product catalogue, instead of choosing from a catalogue inside the Swap portal. This article covers what you need in place, how to switch it on in both Shopify and Swap, and what to check if the option doesn't appear.
ℹ️ This feature is available in Returns V2 only.
💡 You don't have to use it. The standard Shop Now flow inside the Swap portal, Swap Exchange, remains available — see Understanding Shop Now and Shop Later.
How the in-store experience works
During a return, the customer selects the items they want to return in the Swap portal.
Instead of choosing an exchange item in the portal, they click Shop Now.
They are redirected to your Shopify storefront, where they browse and select replacement products.
Once items are in their exchange cart, they return to Swap to complete the return.
If the in-store experience cannot run for any reason, Swap falls back to the in-portal flow automatically, so the customer can still complete their exchange.
Before you start
Shop Now must be enabled in Swap. In-Store is a way of delivering Shop Now, not a separate return type.
Your Shopify theme must be 2.0 or newer. Only Shopify 2.0+ themes are fully supported. If you are on an older theme, speak to your Account Manager.
Your checkout button must carry the
name="checkout"attribute. This is how the in-store experience finds the checkout button in your theme. Most themes have it as standard, but a customised checkout button may not — if yours doesn't, it needs adding before In-Store Shop Now will work. Troubleshooting below explains how to check and fix it.The Swap app needs theme permissions. If you use the public Swap: Shipping & Returns app from the Shopify App Store, these are already included and there is nothing to do. If your store uses a custom or development app, you need to grant them:
In Shopify admin, go to Apps → Develop apps → Swap App.
Open Admin API integration → Configuration and click Edit.
Search for
themeand enable all theme permissions.Click Save.
Set up the app embed in Shopify
Go to the Shopify App Store, then search for and install Swap: Shipping & Returns. If you already have it, update it — In-Shop needs a recent version.
In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store → Themes.
Click Customize.
In the left sidebar, open App embeds.
Find Swap In-Shop Experience and toggle it on.
Optionally set the button text — for example Continue Exchange — and the button colour.
Switch it on in Swap
Go to Returns → Settings → Exchanges.
In the Exchange options panel, tick Allow exchanges for a different product (Shop Now) under Domestic exchanges, International exchanges, or both. This controls where Shop Now is offered.
In the Portal exchange experience panel, select In-Shop Exchange. Your current choice is marked Active.
⚠️ If In-Shop Exchange is greyed out, one or both of the Shopify steps above are incomplete — usually the app embed.
You can also set a Shop Now discount to give customers more to spend on their exchange. For how that is calculated, see Understanding the Shop Now bonus calculation.
Things to know
An ineligible item blocks the whole return. If one item in a return cannot be exchanged, the customer cannot proceed with any of them. They need to deselect the restricted item to continue with the rest.
You cannot tell from your CRM whether an exchange was made in your storefront or in the Swap portal. The two are not distinguished in exported data.
Collection and safety stock settings do not apply. Choosing which collections appear, and setting a safety stock level, are settings for the Swap Exchange experience. In-Store Shop Now uses your live storefront, so your normal Shopify product availability applies instead.
Exchanges that need an additional payment are not processed at the point of return. If a refund is declined, the exchange item stays on the RMA rather than being removed.
Troubleshooting
The In-Shop Exchange option is greyed out
One of the two Shopify requirements is missing. Check that the app embed is toggled on, and that the Swap app has theme permissions.
The Swap button does not appear in your storefront
Three common causes:
Your theme is not supported, or the app embed is not active. Check both.
Your checkout button has a different name, or none. The in-store experience finds the checkout button by its
nameattribute, which must be exactlyname="checkout"in lower case. Inspect the button element in your theme; if the attribute is missing or spelled differently, addname="checkout"to it. This is the single most common reason the button fails to appear.
Another app is controlling the checkout button. Shipping protection and upsell apps can override it and suppress the Swap button.
Contact your Account Manager if you need help with any of these.
It stopped working after a theme update
Theme updates can remove or break the app embed. Swap falls back to the in-portal exchange flow so customers are not blocked, but you should re-check the app embed in App embeds and toggle it back on if needed.