If you run a DTC brand, you already know the quiet math of returns: every refund is revenue you earned once and then handed back. The customer placed an order, the ad was paid for, and then a size ran small, a color looked different on screen, or the fit just wasn't right. All of that hard-won value flows straight out the door and the customer leaves empty handed.
The instinct is to treat that as the cost of doing business online. We've never bought it. A return isn't a customer leaving. It's a customer telling you they want to buy from you. They just need help finding the thing that's right. Today, we're making that easier than it's ever been.
Meet Onward Smart Exchanges: AI-powered product recommendations, built right into the Onward exchange flow.
The moment that decides refund vs. exchange
Think about what happens the second a shopper opens your returns portal. They're already a little frustrated. The path of least resistance is "just give me my money back." Every extra click, every dead end, every "browse our catalog" button is another nudge toward a refund you didn't have to lose.
That moment, the few seconds after someone starts a return, is the single highest-leverage point in your entire post-purchase experience. Get it right, and a refund becomes a swap. Get it wrong, and revenue you already captured walks away.
Smart Exchanges is built for exactly that moment.
How it works
When a customer starts an exchange, Onward reads the context of what they're returning: the product, the reason, the fit. Then it instantly surfaces the replacements most likely to make them happy:
The obvious fix. Returning something because the size ran small? We surface the right size first, front and center.
The relevant alternative. Wrong color or style? We narrow to the closest matches from your catalog instead of showing your entire inventory.
The smart upgrade. Where it fits, we suggest complementary or higher-value items that turn a save into a bigger basket.
Onward handles the merchandising automatically, so your customer never has to scroll back through your entire store. The result is a fast, guided, fully branded experience that helps shoppers find their replacement in seconds and helps you keep the sale.
Why merchants should care
Smart Exchanges is a lever on the numbers you already watch:
Retained revenue. Every exchange is revenue that stays on your books instead of being refunded. At scale, converting even a share of refunds into exchanges meaningfully changes your net return cost.
Bigger baskets. Relevant recommendations, including upgrades and add-ons, turn a one-for-one swap into an opportunity to grow order value.
Lower support load. When Onward surfaces the right options automatically, fewer customers email your team asking "do you have this in a medium?" The flow answers for them.
Loyalty, not friction. A shopper who quickly finds the right replacement leaves happy. A shopper who fights your returns page leaves, period.
This is the Onward philosophy in action: generous when it builds loyalty, disciplined when it protects profit. Smart Exchanges keeps customers moving toward a purchase that's right for them and right for your margins.
Available now
Smart Exchanges is live for Onward merchants today. If you're already using Onward for returns, it works with the branded exchange flow you've already set up, without any heavy lift.
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