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Instant Exchanges

Instant exchanges give your customers a faster way to receive replacement items during the return process. Instead of waiting for your team to receive and review the original return, customers can pre-authorize their payment method and have their new item shipped immediately. This feature improves customer satisfaction by speeding up resolutions while protecting your brand with built-in safeguards.


With instant exchanges:

  • Faster Resolutions: Customers receive their replacement item right away instead of waiting for return approval.
  • Brand Protection: Customer card information is pre-authorized, ensuring you can collect payment if the original item is not returned.
  • Flexible Setup: Rules and conditions can be applied to decide when instant exchanges are available.
  • Inventory Confidence: Prevents missed sales opportunities by securing inventory before it sells out.
  • Customer Choice: Brands can either let customers choose whether to use instant exchange or require it in all cases.

  • Customers enter card information at checkout when selecting instant exchange.
  • Stripe holds the authorization for 7 days by default. If the return is not dropped off within that timeframe, the customer is charged.
  • Corso can work with you and Stripe if you need to extend the authorization window beyond 7 days.

Instant exchanges are managed through automation rules, just like other Corso rules:

  • You can create multiple rules to cover different scenarios.
  • Conditions can include:
    • Order details (date, amount, etc.)
    • Product type or group
    • Time periods or promotions
    • Inventory considerations (e.g., high-demand items)
  • If no conditions are set, instant exchanges are always available.
  • By default, customers can choose between a standard exchange or an instant exchange.
  • If Require Instant Exchange is enabled, customers must enter their card information and cannot proceed with a standard exchange.
  • This setting is helpful for brands with fast-moving inventory, ensuring replacement items are secured immediately.

To set up instant exchanges:

  1. Navigate to Automation Rules in your Corso Admin.
  2. Create a new Instant Exchange Rule.
  3. Add a title and set any desired conditions.
  4. Save your rule.
  5. (Optional) Enable Require Instant Exchange if you want to enforce it for all customers.

Q: What happens if the customer never returns the original item?
A: Their pre-authorized card is charged after the 7-day window (or longer if adjusted with Stripe).

Q: Can I limit instant exchanges to specific products?
A: Yes. Conditions can be applied in your automation rules to restrict availability.

Q: Do customers always have to use instant exchange?
A: No, unless you enable the Require Instant Exchange setting.

Q: Can I adjust the pre-authorization window?
A: The default is 7 days with Stripe. Contact Corso Support if you need to extend this timeframe.