Exchange request email replies for size and colour swaps

To answer an exchange request, check three things in the order — it was delivered, it's inside your return window, and the new size or colour is in stock — then reply with the one template that fits. If the request is outside your window, check the customer's legal right to cancel before you say no.

Below are three replies for the cases a small store meets, the steps for an exchange in Shopify, and the EU and UK rules that still apply after your own window closes. Words in double braces, like {{order_number}}, are blanks: fill each one from the order and your returns policy, never from memory.

Before you reply: what to check

Check	Where	Why
The order has shipped	The order page	Shopify only lets you create a return for fulfilled items that haven't been refunded. If it hasn't shipped, it's an order edit, not an exchange.
The delivery date	The tracking or the order timeline	Your return window, and the legal cancellation period, usually run from delivery.
Your return window	Settings > Policies, Return and cancellation rules	Shopify can start the window from each item's delivery or from delivery of the last item.
Final sale	Your return rules	Items you marked as final sale can't be requested for return.
Stock of the new variant	The product page	Shopify doesn't reserve exchange stock until you process the return.

That last row matters. A size that's in stock when you reply may be gone when the parcel comes back, so don't write "we've put one aside for you" unless you really have.

Template 1: in stock, inside the window

Hi {{first_name}},

Of course — happy to swap your {{original_item}} for {{new_item}}.

Please send the {{original_item}} back to us {{return_method}}. {{return_shipping_cost_line}} Once it reaches us, we'll send the {{new_item}} out, usually within {{dispatch_time}}, and you'll get tracking by email.

{{price_difference_line}}

{{your_name}}

Fill {{return_shipping_cost_line}} from your return rules: free returns, a flat fee, or the customer buys their own label. Leave {{price_difference_line}} out for an even swap. If the new item costs more, say the amount and that you'll send an invoice; if it costs less, say you'll refund the difference once the return is processed.

Template 2: the size or colour they want is out of stock

Hi {{first_name}},

Thanks for asking. I'm sorry: {{new_item}} is out of stock at the moment.

Here's what I can do:

• wait for it: {{restock_line}}
• swap for something else: {{alternative_items}}
• send the {{original_item}} back for a refund of {{refund_amount}}, within our {{return_window}} return window.

Just reply with the one you'd like.

{{your_name}}

For {{restock_line}}, give a date only if a supplier has confirmed one. Otherwise write "I don't have a restock date yet" and offer to email them when it's back. A guessed date that slips turns one email into three.

Template 3: outside the return window

Read the section on the law below before you send this. If the customer is in the EU or UK and still within the legal cancellation period, they may have a right to send the item back for a refund even if your exchange window has closed.

Hi {{first_name}},

Thanks for getting in touch. Your order {{order_number}} was delivered on {{delivery_date}}, and our exchange window is {{return_window}} from delivery, so it closed on {{window_end_date}}.

{{goodwill_line}}

If anything is wrong with the {{original_item}} itself, that's different — tell me what's happened and I'll look into it straight away.

{{your_name}}

Use {{goodwill_line}} for whatever your policy allows: a one-off exchange, store credit, or a plain "I'm afraid we can't exchange it now". The line about faults matters: a faulty item isn't an exchange request, and the damaged item templates cover that.

Choosing the reply

Situation	Reply
Delivered, inside window, new variant in stock	Template 1
Delivered, inside window, new variant out of stock	Template 2
Outside your window, customer in EU or UK, within 14 days of delivery	Treat it as a cancellation unless an exception applies: the item can come back for a refund
Outside your window and the legal period	Template 3
Order not yet shipped	Edit the order; see order cancellation replies
Item is faulty or damaged	Not an exchange: use the damaged item templates

How to do the exchange in Shopify

Shopify handles an exchange as a return with exchange items added. From Shopify's help pages:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Orders and open the order.
2. Click Return (or More actions > Return if some items are unfulfilled).
3. Enter the quantity to return and pick a Return reason. For apparel, Shopify offers reasons such as Too big and Too small.
4. In the Exchange items section, click Add products, choose the new size or colour, and click Done.
5. Choose the return shipping option and click Create return.

Shopify works out the balance for you: a refund if the new item is cheaper, an amount to collect if it's dearer, nothing if it's an even exchange. For returns with exchanges, Shopify emails the customer a list of the items being exchanged and returned.

When the item comes back, open the order, process the return, select the exchange items to release, and fulfil them the same way as a normal order. If you're waiting for payment of a balance, Shopify puts the exchange items on hold until it's paid or you release them. Order-level discounts can't be applied to exchange items, but a product discount can.

What the law says when your window has closed

Your exchange policy is yours to set. The legal right in the EU and UK is a different thing: a right to cancel and get the money back, not a right to a different size.

EU. Under Article 9 of the Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU, the consumer has "a period of 14 days to withdraw from a distance or off-premises contract, without giving any reason". For goods, the period runs from the day the consumer, or a third party they named other than the carrier, "acquires physical possession of the goods", or of the last item when one order arrives in parts. Article 13 says the trader must reimburse all payments, including standard delivery, no later than 14 days after being told, and may withhold the refund until the goods are back or the consumer has shown they've sent them.

UK. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 say the same in their own words. Under regulation 30, the cancellation period for goods ends 14 days after the day they come into the physical possession of the consumer or a person, other than the carrier, they identified. Regulation 34 sets the refund deadline when you haven't offered to collect the goods: 14 days after you receive the goods back, or after the customer gives evidence of sending them, whichever is earlier.

Shopify's own help page tells stores selling to EU customers to set a return window of at least 14 days and start it from delivery of the last item in the order. If your window is shorter than that, or starts at the order date, a customer can be outside your window and inside the law.

Some goods are outside the right altogether: Article 16 of the Directive lists them, including goods made to the customer's specifications or clearly personalised. For the full rules, see the EU right of withdrawal and UK refund rules for online orders. To write a returns policy your replies can quote, see store policies that answer emails.

This is a summary, not legal advice. Sources read on 20 October 2026.

When AI drafts the exchange reply

An exchange reply depends on facts a drafting tool can't know: the delivery date, whether the size is in stock, what your window is. Asked to guess, it will guess.

Corresso drafts each reply from the documents your store approved, such as your returns policy, and each fact in the draft cites the document it came from. A rule holds any draft that promises a refund or replacement without citing a document allowed to offer one, and order numbers and dates stay blanks. With Shopify connected, the customer's orders appear beside the email, and one click fills the order number, tracking number, tracking link and ship date into the draft. The return and exchange are still made in your Shopify admin, and a person reads every draft and presses Send. See how it works.