Item discount distribution for returns
Overview
Item discount distribution for returns is an Advanced policy rule that keeps your refunds accurate when a shopper returns only part of an order they bought on promotion. If the items they keep no longer meet the promotion's condition, Synctrack re-prices those items and refunds only what the shopper actually paid — so you don't hand back a discount they no longer earn.
You'll find it in Settings > Policies, under the Advanced policy card. It's off by default and available on the Premium plan and above.
What it does
When a shopper returns only part of an order, the promotion they originally qualified for may no longer apply to what they keep. Without this rule, Synctrack refunds the discounted price of the returned item, and the items the shopper keeps stay discounted — even though they no longer earn that discount. You end up refunding more than the shopper actually paid.
Turn this on and Synctrack re-prices the kept items at the price they would have paid for exactly what they keep, then refunds the difference.
Example
A shopper buys 2 jackets under a "buy 2, save 15%" promotion — $52.70 each, discounted to $44.80 each. They pay $89.60.
They return 1 jacket. The "buy 2" condition is no longer met, so the jacket they keep is worth its full $52.70.
Rule | Refund |
|---|---|
Off | $44.80 — the discounted price of the returned item |
On | $36.90 — $89.60 paid, minus the $52.70 they keep |
The shopper sees a Discount adjustment line of −$7.90 in their return summary, with a tooltip explaining why. | |
If they later return the second jacket too, that request refunds $52.70 — so across both returns they get back exactly the $89.60 they paid. |
How to turn it on
- Go to Settings > Policies.
- Scroll to the Advanced policy card.
- Tick Item discount distribution for returns.
- Click Save.
The rule is off by default. It applies to return requests created after you save — requests already in progress keep the amount the shopper was originally quoted.
Which discounts it covers
✅ Shopify Amount off products discounts that require a minimum quantity of items (e.g. "buy 2 or more, save 15%").
❌ Buy X Get Y (BOGO) deals — not supported yet. Use Require Return All Items from BOGO/Bundle Deals to keep those bundles together instead.
❌ Promotions with no minimum-quantity condition — nothing can break, so nothing is recalculated.
❌ Order-level discounts — these stay applied to the items the shopper keeps, and are never clawed back.
❌ Exchange and cancellation requests — the rule applies to returns only.
❌ Custom or third-party discounts that don't appear as a Shopify discount on the order.
If Synctrack can't determine the promotion's condition — for example you deleted the discount in Shopify after the order was placed — the refund is calculated the usual way and no adjustment line appears.
What your shopper sees
At the review step of the return portal, a Discount adjustment row appears above the expected refund, with an info tooltip.
The same figure appears in their request history and on your side in Return Management, so the two never disagree.
You can reword both the label and the tooltip under the return page translation settings.
Plan
Available on the Premium plan and above. On lower plans the checkbox is locked with an upgrade prompt. If you downgrade, your setting is kept — the rule simply stops applying until you upgrade again.
Updated on: 28/08/2026
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