How-to

How to handle returns with an online form

A step-by-step guide to a returns form with Forms: ask only what matters, ask for a photo only when the item is faulty, get every return by email and in one inbox, and keep spam out.

By Darryl Waterhouse · · 2 min read

Returns by email are untidy: no order number, no photo, and three messages before you know what is wrong. A returns form asks the right questions every time, and the Forms Tool is built into every Domma CMS site.

This guide builds one for our made-up company, ACME Ltd, which sells tools and workshop supplies.

1. Ask only what you need

Start with the order number, the customer's email, the date it arrived, the item and why they are returning it. Make the reason a choice, not free text, so every return sorts itself: changed my mind, wrong item, faulty. Picture choices work well for "refund or replacement".

2. Ask for a photo only when it is faulty

Nobody wants to photograph a drill they simply changed their mind about. Give the photo field a rule: hidden until the reason is Faulty, then it slides in and becomes required.

The logic panel of a photo field: hidden until the reason is Faulty, then it slides in and becomes required

3. Put it on a page

Add the form to a returns page. Customers pick the date from a calendar and drop their photo straight in, with a preview.

The returns form on a page as a visitor fills it in, with a date, a photo they dropped in and picture choices

4. Decide where returns go

On the Actions tab, email each return to the people who deal with it, two addresses if you like. If you use another system, Forms can post each entry to a webhook too. Switch on spam protection while you are there: a hidden honeypot field and a limit on how often one visitor can send.

The Actions tab: email two addresses on submit, post each entry to a webhook, and spam protection with a honeypot and a rate limit

Your returns team gets every answer in a table, with a link to the photo.

The email the returns team gets: every answer in a table, with a link to the photo

5. Work through them in the inbox

Every return is also kept in the form's inbox. Open one to see every answer and the photo, copy it, email the customer, or mark it as spam.

One return opened from the inbox, with every answer, the photo and buttons to copy, email the customer or mark it as spam

The submissions inbox for the trade account form

Quick checklist

  1. Make the reason a choice, so returns sort themselves.
  2. Show the photo field only for faulty items.
  3. Send each return to the right people.
  4. Switch on spam protection.
  5. Send one test return yourself.

Explore Forms, or see Forms that react for triggers and conditional logic.

The screens above come from our made-up demo company, ACME Ltd.

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