Short answer
A holiday return policy extends your normal window for gifts: a common pattern makes purchases from early November returnable until mid-to-late January, with final sale items excluded. Publish the dates, put the policy in your knowledge, and widen your Shopify return rules to match, so every reply and return agrees.- Common window
- Bought from early November, returnable until mid-to-late January.
- Gift returns
- Store credit or exchange for the recipient, with a gift receipt or order number.
- Exclusions
- Final sale, personalized and opened hygiene items, named in the policy.
- In knowledge
- One article with the exact dates, quoted by every AI reply.
- In Shopify
- Aide starts returns under your Shopify return rules, so widen them to match.
- Returns in Aide
- Off until you turn them on. The store approves each request by default.
An extended holiday return policy answers the question every gift buyer has in November: what if they don't like it? The policy itself is short. The hard part is making sure your site, your team and your AI agent all give the same dates in January.
What the policy needs to say
A holiday return policy is your normal policy with a different window for a set of purchase dates. Write down six things:
- The purchase dates it covers, such as November 1 to December 31.
- The return deadline for those purchases, such as January 31.
- Who can return: the buyer, the gift recipient, or both.
- What they get back: a refund to the original payment, store credit or an exchange.
- What is excluded: final sale, personalized items, opened hygiene products, gift cards.
- Who pays return shipping, and whether the item must be unused with tags.
See what a return window is if you are setting one for the first time, and the return policy template for the year-round version.
Sample holiday return policy
Adapt this wording to your own dates and rules:
Holiday returns. Items bought between November 1 and December 31, 2026 can be returned until January 31, 2027. Items must be unused, with tags attached.
Gifts. The recipient can exchange a gift or return it for store credit with the gift receipt or the order number. Refunds to the original payment go to the buyer.
Not included. Final sale items, personalized orders and gift cards can't be returned. Items bought from January 1 follow our standard 30-day policy.
Publish it on your returns page, in the footer of order confirmation emails, and as a line on your sale banner.
Gift returns and final sale
Most holiday disputes come from these two cases, so spell them out.
- Gift returns. The recipient usually doesn't have the order number. Decide what you accept instead (a gift receipt, the buyer's email) and offer gift receipts at checkout to make January easier. The gift return template covers the conversation.
- Final sale. If Black Friday items are final sale, say so on the product page and in the policy, and tag them in Shopify. The final sale return template explains the rule without arguing about it.
- After the deadline. A February request for a December gift is a judgment call. The return outside the window template says no kindly, with the date the window closed, and leaves any exception to your team.
Making your AI agent apply it
An AI agent applies a policy as consistently as the policy is written. Put it in three places, with the same dates in each:
- Knowledge. Write one article titled "Holiday returns" with the dates, exclusions and gift rules. Aide answers return questions from it, so the dates in every reply come from one place.
- A procedure. Create one with a When to use such as "A customer asks whether a holiday purchase can be returned in January." Add an Only if on order created, so it runs only for orders inside your holiday dates. The extended holiday returns template has the wording.
- Shopify return rules. Aide starts Shopify returns under your return rules (window, excluded tags such as
final-sale, reasons). If the rules still say 30 days, a January return falls outside them, so widen the window for the season or have the procedure hand those returns to your team.
Returns in Aide stay off until you turn them on, and each one is created as a request your store approves by default. Stores on a returns portal get a "Start your return" button that opens it on the order. Shopify returns in chat covers the setup.
When the holiday window closes
Change the policy back on the day after the deadline, not a week later. Update the returns page and the knowledge article, set your Shopify return window back, and switch the holiday procedure off so it stops matching.
Then look at what came back. The handoff reasons and Aide's weekly knowledge gaps show which questions your policy didn't answer, which is next year's first edit.