Turn on Offer an alternative before cancelling in the Cancel order tool, then choose one alternative for each cancellation reason. When a customer picks a reason that has an offer, they see that one alternative above the Cancel my order button. They can take it, or ignore it and cancel. The Cancel button is never hidden, disabled or delayed, and it never asks the customer to confirm a second time.
This is off by default, and nothing is offered until you turn it on and choose an offer for a reason.
Before you start
Cancel order must already be working. The retention step sits inside the Cancel order window, so the customer must be able to cancel. See How do I let customers cancel their own Shopify order? and, if the option does not show, Why can't my customer cancel their order?.
You need a list of cancellation reasons. Each offer is attached to a reason, so a store with no reasons has nothing to attach an offer to. See How do I see why customers cancel their orders?.
The tool the offer opens must be switched on. Fix the address opens Edit delivery address, Switch to another product opens Replace product, Upgrade shipping opens Upgrade shipping method, and Apply a discount opens Apply a discount. Each is set up and turned on from its own page under Editing Tools → Tools.
There is no plan restriction. The retention step is available on every plan.
How to set it up
Open Editing Tools and go to the Tools tab.
Open Cancel order.
Under Cancellation reasons, add or edit your reasons. Each row has the reason (Reason) and a dropdown, Offer this instead of cancelling.
For each reason, choose one of the offers below, or leave No offer (plain cancel).
Just below the list, turn on Offer an alternative before cancelling.
If you chose Switch to another product, check the swap settings (see below).
Click Save.
Under each reason you see a sentence telling you what will happen. It says Customers who pick this reason will see this offer above the Cancel button. when the offer will show. If it cannot show yet, it tells you why and what to turn on, for example Turn on "Offer an alternative before cancelling" for this offer to show. Read these before you save.
The four offers
Offer in the dropdown | What the customer sees above Cancel | What it opens |
Fix the address | "Is the address wrong? You can fix it instead of cancelling." with Fix my address | Edit delivery address |
Switch to another product | "Want something different? You can switch to another item instead of cancelling." with Switch my item | Replace product |
Upgrade shipping | "Need it sooner? You can upgrade your shipping instead of cancelling." with Upgrade my shipping | Upgrade shipping method |
Apply a discount | "Have a discount code you forgot to use? You can apply it instead of cancelling." with Apply a discount | Apply a discount |
The customer sees the offer only after they pick the reason, and only one offer at a time. If they change the reason, the offer changes with it (or goes away). The customer is shown the offer in their own language.
The offer opens the same window the customer would get from that tool's own button, so everything that tool normally decides still applies: which products, discounts or shipping rates they can choose, what they can change, and how money is handled. Each offer's row in the reason list has an Open ... settings link to that tool.
Other never carries an offer. The reason Other is always added for the customer, and picking it shows the plain Cancel window.
The settings
Setting | Default | What it does |
Offer an alternative before cancelling | Off | The master switch. While it is off, no offer shows for any reason, whatever each reason is set to. |
Offer this instead of cancelling (one per reason) | No offer (plain cancel) | The one alternative for that reason. |
Products to suggest | Best sellers | Which products the customer sees first when they choose to switch. Choose Best sellers, Recently added or One collection. |
Collection to suggest from | None | Only used with One collection. Choose a collection with Choose a collection. |
Discount on the item they switch to | 0 (no discount) | A percentage off the new item, from 0 to 100. 0 means the normal price. |
Extra a switch may cost | 0 | Reserved. It changes nothing yet. Leave it at 0. |
If you enter a discount below 0 or above 100, the page refuses to save it: "The discount on the item they switch to must be a percentage of at least 0 and at most 100. Nothing was saved."
Choosing what customers can switch to
The switch offer only ever narrows what Replace product already allows. It never adds a product.
Replace product's own list comes first. The products a customer can switch to must be in the collections you chose under Collections a customer may choose from on Replace product. If that list is empty, there is nothing to switch to and the offer does not show.
Best sellers shows your best-selling allowed products first. Shopify works out the order, and Tacey reads it collection by collection from the collections Replace product allows.
Recently added shows your newest allowed products first.
One collection shows only allowed products that are also in the collection you chose. If you pick One collection and choose no collection, customers see no products to switch to.
The customer can still search. A search stays inside the same allowed list.
Only items that cost the same or less are offered. The list shows only items priced at or below the one being replaced. A more expensive item is not offered, and a switch that would leave the customer owing money is refused. Offering a dearer item is not available.
The discount on a switch
The discount is off by default (0). When you set one, it is taken off the new item only, and the customer sees the figure before they confirm.
The customer presses Switch my item and picks a product.
The review step shows the discounted price, with the line Includes 20% off your new item. (using your percentage), and the amount they get back.
They press Confirm and save.
Only the new item is discounted, and Shopify calculates the discounted price. A discount only applies when the new item costs the same or less than the one it replaces.
What the customer sees
They open Cancel order and press Yes, continue.
They choose a reason under Why are you cancelling?
If that reason has an offer, a box appears with one sentence and one button, above the red Cancel my order button and the Back button.
They either take the offer, or carry on and press Cancel my order, exactly as without retention.
When they press the offer's button, the matching window opens. The order is not cancelled unless they press Cancel my order.
What happens when the customer takes the offer
The order is not cancelled. The change is made by the other tool, with its own steps, and is recorded on the order's entry in Tacey's Order changes page like any other change by that tool.
Offer | What changes | Money |
Fix the address | The customer edits and confirms their delivery address in Edit delivery address. | None. The order stays paid and uncancelled, with the new address. |
Apply a discount | The customer chooses one of the discounts you allowed on Apply a discount, for example 10% off. They see "If a refund is due, the store will review it and send it to you." and then "Your discount has been applied". | The customer already paid, so the discount creates an amount owed back to them. The amount is the discount. Nothing is refunded at that moment. It waits for you to approve it on the order page, and How the customer gets the discount back on Apply a discount decides whether it goes to their original payment method or store credit. |
Switch to another product | The customer picks a new item, reviews it, and presses Confirm and save. | The cheaper price difference is owed back to the customer. They see it before confirming, for example "The difference will be refunded to your original payment method." with the amount. Nothing has been refunded yet: the amount waits on the order page for you to approve. Any discount you set applies to the new item only. |
Upgrade shipping | The customer chooses a faster shipping option. | The customer pays the difference. They see Payment due with the amount and Confirm and pay, then "Shipping upgraded" and "Your order will ship with ... once the difference is paid." They pay on Shopify's own payment page. The order is held until they pay, and Hours to wait for payment on an upgrade on Upgrade shipping method decides how long. |
What happens when the customer cancels anyway
Cancelling works exactly as it does without retention. The reason they picked is recorded, the order is cancelled right away, and the refund follows your Cancellation refunds setting, so it either goes out straight away or waits for you to approve it. When a refund is waiting for your approval, the customer sees that it is waiting for the store to approve it and that nothing has been refunded yet. See Where does the refund go when a customer cancels their order? and How do I charge a restocking fee and review cancellation refunds?.
When no offer shows
An offer fails safe. If anything is off, the customer simply sees the normal Cancel window and can still cancel.
What is going on | What the customer sees | What you do |
Offer an alternative before cancelling is off | The plain Cancel window. | Turn it on and save. |
The reason they picked is set to No offer (plain cancel), or is Other | The plain Cancel window. | Choose an offer for that reason. |
The tool the offer opens is switched off in your store | The plain Cancel window, with no message. | Turn that tool on. The reason row says Turn on ... for this offer to show. |
The order matches a restriction that covers that tool, or the tool refuses this order for its own reasons | A short grey line above the Cancel button: "That option isn't available for this order right now. You can still cancel below." | Nothing is wrong. See Restrictions in Global settings if you did not mean to block it. |
Switch to another product is the offer, but Replace product is off | The plain Cancel window. | Turn on Replace product. |
Replace product has no allowed collections | The plain Cancel window. The reason row says "... is on but has no allowed collections, so there is nothing to switch to ..." | Choose collections on Replace product. |
Products to suggest is One collection and no collection is chosen | The customer sees no product to switch to. | Choose a collection, or pick another source. |
The swap list is empty (nothing at or below the price of the item being replaced) | An empty list. | The customer can go Back, or cancel as normal. |
The tool stops being available between the offer showing and the customer acting on it | The tool tells them why, for example "This order can't be changed here. Reply to your order confirmation email if you need help. (E0009)", and nothing changes on the order. | Nothing. They can still cancel. |
Cancel order itself is not available (edit window closed, order shipped, and so on) | No Cancel window, so no offer. |
The reason list on the settings page tells you most of these before you save, next to each row. A discount set on the switch with no reason offering Switch to another product also gets a warning: "This discount is set, but it will not be applied ...".
What this does NOT do
It never blocks, hides or delays Cancel. The Cancel my order button is always one press away, and it never asks for a second confirmation.
It never offers more than one alternative at a time. One reason, one offer.
It does not offer a dearer item. Only items that cost the same or less are offered, and a swap that would leave the customer owing money is refused.
It does not give discounts you did not set. The switch discount is 0 until you change it, and an offer to apply a discount only lists the discounts you allowed on Apply a discount.
It does not add its own refund rules. Refunds, charges and holds follow the rules of the tool the offer opens, or Cancellation refunds if the customer cancels.
It does not change which orders can be cancelled or edited. An order the target tool refuses is not offered the alternative.
Frequently asked
Do I have to use all four offers?
No. Choose an offer only for the reasons where it makes sense. For example, give Ordered by mistake the address fix and leave Found a better price on No offer (plain cancel).
Why does the customer see an offer for one reason and not another?
Each reason has its own offer. A reason set to No offer (plain cancel), and Other, show the normal Cancel window.
Will the customer be charged if they take an offer?
Only on Upgrade shipping, where they pay the difference on Shopify's payment page after confirming. Fixing the address costs nothing, and a cheaper switch or a discount means money is owed back to them, not charged.
Where do I see which offers customers took?
Tacey does not show offer take-up on a report. The order's entry in Tacey's Order changes page records the change the other tool made, and for a switch it also records the discount and the before and after prices.