We also realized this right after developing our integration of returns with Shopify. We now give merchants visibility on returns when they are requested by customers (auto-approved by merchants) and inspected and restocked at the warehouse. Context: we are a 3PL and post-purchase experience platform (providing a return portal to merchants).
The problem our merchants face is that they now have too many returns in their Financial summaries. Some ask us to no longer sync returns with Shopify now.
What I am unclear about (I haven’t found documentation for it) is why Shopify considers a Return approved as negative sales (and adjusts the Returns line with negative amount at this moment). Many customers request a return but end up never shipping their return.
=> Is it possible to get an answer from the Shopify team on why this has been done this way?
We also have store credit and exchanges returns so we are also wondering how to handle this in a Shopify-approved way.