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Tutorial: Implementing Store Credit as an Alternative to Refunds

Tutorial: Implementing Store Credit as an Alternative to Refunds

Overview

UltraCart allows merchants to reduce refund rates and increase customer retention by offering store credit instead of issuing a monetary refund. This functionality is powered by the Loyalty Program (Cashback Mode), which enables store credit to be issued directly during the refund process. Customers can later apply this credit at checkout through their My Account portal.

This tutorial walks you through enabling store credit, issuing credit during refunds, and ensuring customers can redeem it smoothly.

What You’ll Need

  • An active UltraCart account with access to Configuration → Loyalty

  • Permission to manage orders and refunds

  • (Optional) A StoreFront using a modern Visual Builder theme for customer-visible credit balance features

Steps

1. Enable the Loyalty Program in Cashback Mode

  1. Navigate to Main Menu → Configuration → ('Checkout' tab) Loyalty

  2. Click Enable Loyalty Program.

  3. Select Cashback as the program mode.

    Note: Do not choose Points Mode for store-credit-only workflows. Cashback mode is optimized for issuing direct monetary credits.

  4. (Optional) Configure additional Loyalty settings such as tiers or earning rules.

    Tip: Store credit issuance during refunds does not require any point-earning or cashback rewards on original purchases.

  5. Save your configuration.

Once enabled, UltraCart creates a store credit ledger on each customer profile. Credits appear in the Customer Profile Editor and in the customer-facing My Account portal.

2. Issue Store Credit During a Refund

  1. Go to Main Menu → Order Management → View Orders.

  2. Open the order you wish to refund.

  3. Click Refund.

  4. Choose between:

    • Complete Refund

    • Partial Refund

  5. In the refund editor, select Issue Store Credit rather than refunding the payment method.

    image-20251202-155748.png

  6. Enter the amount you want to issue as credit.

  7. Add a refund reason, if desired.

    Configure refund reasons at Configuration → Order Management → Refund Reasons.

  8. Submit the refund.

UltraCart will:

  • Add the credited amount to the customer’s loyalty ledger.

  • Record the refund in reporting without sending funds back through the payment gateway.

  • (Optionally) send a customer notification depending on your refund-screen settings.

Refund options include:

  • Skip customer notification

  • Halt future auto-orders associated with refunded items

  • Suppress marketing emails related to the order

Note: Store credit is useful for old orders where the gateway can no longer issue refunds (e.g., after 60+ days), because no card data is needed.

3. Customer Redemption at Checkout

Store credit automatically becomes available to the customer at checkout.

To ensure the best customer experience:

  1. Verify your theme supports store credit redemption.

    • Go to StoreFronts → (Storefronts Menu) → Themes → Scroll down the active theme tab to the Changelog and confirm you are on a recent theme version.

  2. Confirm your My Account page shows the customer’s available credit balance.

  3. Test a purchase using a test customer account with an assigned credit balance.

Note: Customers may combine store credit with a traditional payment method.
Ensure your payment gateway supports partial refunds if you plan to mix monetary refunds with credit issuance.

Expected Outcome

After completing this tutorial:

  • Your store will support issuing store credit in place of refunds.

  • Customers can apply their store credit at checkout.

  • Refund processing can avoid payment-gateway fees and reduce churn.

  • Store credit activity will appear in both the order and the customer’s loyalty ledger.

Troubleshooting

Store Credit Option Not Appearing

  • Ensure the Loyalty Program is enabled in Cashback mode.

  • Verify the customer has an email address on file (required for loyalty profiles).

  • Confirm you are processing the refund on a successfully captured order (not quotes, pre-orders, or failed payments).

Customer Cannot Redeem Credit

  • Check for theme updates that include support for credit redemption UI.

  • Review customer profile to ensure credit exists in their ledger.

  • Confirm the order is not restricted by other settings such as payment method limitations.

Next Steps