Looking to tailor your return reasons based on different products or order types? You’re in the right place. With Custom Return Groups, Route gives you the flexibility to show unique return reason options depending on your customer’s return context—whether that’s shoes, final sale items, or even international orders.

This guide will walk you through how to create a custom return group, when to use one, and how to apply it using Workflows.

🎯 Why Use Custom Return Groups?

Sometimes, one-size-fits-all doesn’t work—especially when it comes to returns. If your default return reasons aren’t relevant for all products, custom groups let you create specific reason sets that show up only under certain conditions.

Here are a few great use cases:

• Different return reasons for shoes vs. apparel
• Specific reasons for international vs. domestic returns
• Streamlining returns for final sale or non-returnable items

🛠 How to Create a Custom Return Group

1. Navigate to Settings > Return Reasons in your Route Returns dashboard.
2. Click “Add Custom Group”.
3. Give your custom group a clear name (e.g., Shoe Returns, International Orders, etc.).
4. Click into your new group and start adding reasons by selecting the + icon.
5. As with default reasons, you can:
   • Add sub-reasons
   • Require customer notes
   • Flag reasons as Defective or Wrong Item for operational workflows

💡 Reminder: These custom reasons will not appear by default—you need to assign them to the right returns using a Workflow (see below).

⚙ How to Assign a Custom Return Group Using a Workflow

Custom return groups are powerful—but they need to be activated with a Workflow to take effect.

Example: Custom Reasons for Shoes

Let’s say you want customers returning shoes to select from a different list of reasons than someone returning a t-shirt.

Here’s how you’d set that up:

1. Go to Workflows in your dashboard.
2. Create a new workflow or edit an existing one.
3. Add a condition:
   If Product Collection Equals 'Shoes'
4. Add an action:
   Override Return Reasons → Select your custom group (e.g., Shoe Returns)

Once this workflow is saved, anyone returning a product in the Shoes collection will see the custom reason list instead of your default one.

✅ Bonus: You can layer this with other conditions too—like return type, shipping region, or even return window status.

💡 Tips for Managing Custom Return Groups

• Keep names clear and product-specific, so your team can easily identify them.
• Don’t forget to test your workflows to make sure the correct reason group is applied.
• Update your return reasons regularly based on customer feedback or policy changes.

✅ Summary

With Route's Custom Return Groups, you can:

• Create unique return reasons for specific products, collections, or scenarios
• Avoid confusing your customers with irrelevant return options
• Enable smart workflows that override default reasons automatically
• Streamline your returns process and enhance reporting by product category