Home, Alerts and the Events Feed

Updated 11 November 2026

Overview

This article explains Home, the first page after sign-in. It shows the returns that need a person today, a breakdown of your returns by outcome, a link to the returned item report, and the features you have not set up yet.

Use the menu on the left to quickly navigate this article.

The Home page

Opening Home

In the admin, click Home at the top of the sidebar.

The greeting reads Good morning (or afternoon, or evening) and Here's what's moving in your returns over the last 90 days.

Screenshot

Home with the Action items cards, the Revenue retention ring and the Explore more cards

Setup checklist

Until setup is complete, a checklist card sits at the top with the steps Connect your Shopify store, Pick your return portal subdomain, Set up your return policy, Add a return destination address, Connect EasyPost for shipping labels, Connect Stripe for payments, Customize your return portal and Send email to shoppers. Collapse it with the arrow; collapsed, it reads Finish setting up your store. Once every step is done a Dismiss button removes it. See Going live.

Action items

• Needs review: a count and a Review link that opens the returns list on the Needs review tab. See Flags and Needs review.
• Delivered, unprocessed: a count and a Process link that opens the returns list filtered to Delivered, unprocessed: returns whose parcel has arrived and which nobody has processed.

The Returns list link beside the heading opens the full list. A count reads zero in grey when there is nothing to do.

Performance

• Revenue retention: a ring of your returns by outcome over the last 90 days, with the share of each: Refunds, Variant exchanges, Store credit, Shop Now, Keep item and Replace item. The subtitle reads Your returns breakdown, last 90 days. The Analytics link opens Insights > Analytics; see Analytics.

Reports

A card for the Returned item report, Volume by SKU, reason, and outcome., with Refund share vs previous period: how the share of returns ending in a refund moved against the previous period, red when up and green when down. The Reports link opens Insights > Reports; see Reports.

Explore more

Features you have not set up yet, most impactful first. Up to three cards, each a link to its page, for example Create a return policy, Connect a label provider, Offer store credit, Enable exchanges, Turn on Shop Now, Turn on Keep item, Set up Instant Resolution, Automate with workflows, Set up return reasons, Offer Shop Later, Add a warranty policy, Brand your return portal and Connect Klaviyo. The section disappears once nothing is left to suggest.

What the shopper sees

Nothing. Home is internal.

Alerts

This section covers the bell, the admin's alert list. It carries three kinds of alert about returns and connections, plus a few store-wide notices, and nothing else, so when it lights up it matters. Only the Owner and Admins see the bell.

Opening the bell

In the admin, click the bell at the right end of the top bar.

The bell is in the top bar on every page, and its list opens under it. The list is headed Notifications with the unread count. Click an alert to go to the return or to the service's settings page. Mark All as Read is at the top. Alerts older than 90 days are removed, and each user's read state is their own.

Screenshot

The bell open with a label alert, a refund alert and a Stripe connection alert

The three kinds

A label could not be bought. The alert names the return and the carrier's reason, for example Label for return RMA 100045 could not be bought. USPS declined the address. or No carrier offered a rate for this parcel. See When a label fails.

A refund, store credit or exchange order was refused. Shopify or Stripe refused it and the app has confirmed the refusal: Shopify could not process the 40.00 refund on return RMA 100045., Shopify could not issue store credit on ..., Shopify could not create the exchange order on ..., Stripe declined the card refund on ... A refund that is merely unconfirmed is not alerted; the overnight check reads it back first. The refund figure includes sales tax. An Instant Exchange charge that Stripe declined on three tries, or that could not be confirmed after three nights, is alerted here too; see Instant Exchange.

A connection problem. One alert per service, for example Stripe connection problem. Reconnect Stripe in Settings. or Shopify connection problem. Check the ReturnZen app's permissions in Shopify. A Shopify alert can also list the permissions the app is missing. The alert clears itself once a call to that service succeeds again. A temporary error is not a disconnection and does not alert.

Other notices

Instant Exchange charges on hold. Instant Exchange charges are on hold while EasyPost is switched off. Switch EasyPost on to resume them. (or while no EasyPost key is saved, or the saved key cannot be read). Charges resume on the first night EasyPost is back.

No active return policy. No return policy is active, so the default policy is being used for every shopper. Activate a policy or check the default policy's countries. It links to Return Policies.

Sending domain. Your sending domain returns.yourstore.com is no longer verified. Check its DNS records. Emails fall back to the ReturnZen sender until it is fixed; see Notifications: who sends the emails and who they come from.

Note: Nothing is emailed from the bell.

Return Events Feed

This section covers the Return Events Feed, a live timeline of every event on every return across your store, newest first. It is the place to answer who did what, when, without opening each return.

Opening the feed

In the admin, go to Returns > Return Events Feed.

The Events Feed button on the Returns page opens the same page. The subtitle reads Live timeline of every event on every return, newest first. and a chip reads Auto-refreshes every 30s with the time of the last refresh.

Screenshot

The Return Events Feed page with the filter bar and two return groups expanded

Filters

• Event type: one type, or All event types.
• Actor: who caused the event, or All actors.

From and To: a date range. From must be on or before To.

• RMA #: one return, for example RMA 100045.

Click Apply to run them and Clear to remove them. The subtitle then reads Showing 12 filtered events.

Groups and details

Events are grouped by return, each group headed by the order number and RMA with View return. Events that no longer belong to a return sit under Events without a return. Each event expands for its details, the same details the return page's Return history shows. Events by the app itself are prefixed System:.

Typical lines are Return submitted: outcome Refund, Return approved, Flagged for review: Suspected fraud, Flag removed, Return processed, Items restocked, Return expired, Return reopened after expiry (by your team) and Note added with the first words of the note.

Loading more

The feed loads 50 events at a time with Show 50 More (120 Remaining), and ends with All events loaded and the total.

What the shopper sees

Nothing. This is an internal view.

Note: Notes posted on a return appear here as Note added events. Every time on the feed is in your store's timezone.

FAQ

Why did I not get an alert for a refund that is still pending? Only a proven refusal is alerted. A refund whose answer Shopify has not given yet is read back overnight, and alerts only if the answer is a refusal. ReturnZen never sends that refund again by itself; see Processing a return.

Where is the Retry for a declined Instant Exchange charge? Click the alert to open the return. The Instant Exchange card carries Retry Charge.

Please reach out to support@returnzen.app with any additional questions.