# The returns portal your customers use

The public self-service portal where a shopper starts and tracks a return, and what you control about it

Section: app. Audience: public. Updated: 2026-10-10.

---
This page is about the portal your own customers use. You configure it; they use it. It is public, and it needs no Horizon account.

## Where it lives

Each account gets a portal at `/returns/portal/` followed by its own slug. That is the address you put in your emails and on your site.

There is no sign-in. The shopper proves the order is theirs inside the page instead, which is why the portal can be public without exposing anything.

## What a shopper does

The portal is headed **"Start your return"**.

1. They enter their **"Order number"** and a verifier, labelled **"Postal code or email"**, then **"Continue"**. That pair is what proves ownership.
2. They are shown the order and asked **"What are you sending back?"**, choosing items, a **"Qty"** and a **"Reason"** for each. There is a free-text **"Anything we should know?"** box.
3. They give an **"Email for updates"** and press **"Submit return"**.
4. They land on **"Return requested"** with **"Your RMA number"**.

## Tracking afterwards

The portal also runs in a tracking mode, headed **"Track your return"**, reached from **"Track an existing return"** or from a link in the emails your customer receives. Those links carry the RMA and email in the address so the status loads without the shopper typing anything. Which return emails a shopper receives, and the switch for each, are listed in [What your customers see](/app/what-your-customers-see#return-emails).

## What you control

From **"Returns"** in the app you have a portal view for the portal's own configuration, a rules view for the automation around returns, and a settings view. Reasons offered to the shopper, and what happens when they pick one, are set there.

## Reading what comes in

Submitted returns arrive in the **"Returns"** worklist, which is described in [Returns](/app/returns).

## If the portal address does not work

The portal says plainly that it is not available rather than showing a broken form. That usually means the slug is wrong or the portal is not enabled for the account. Check the address in **"Returns"** before telling a customer it is down.