Users, Roles & Access
How ReturnMate provisions users from Shopify, what each role can do, and how to scope access by location and store.
ReturnMate controls team access with five fixed roles plus location and store scoping. This is the single reference for user management — users are managed in Settings → Users.
How users are provisioned
There is no invite flow. Users are provisioned automatically from Shopify: when a staff member opens ReturnMate inside your Shopify admin for the first time, an account is created for them.
As the in-app banner explains: the first user becomes an Admin, and subsequent users are assigned the Standard role by default. An Admin can then change their role in Settings → Users.
To control who can access ReturnMate, control who has access to the app in your Shopify store's staff permissions.
Roles
| Role | Label in UI | Intended for |
|---|---|---|
| Admin | Admin | Full access — settings, refunds, user management |
| Merchant Owner | Owner | The store owner; full refund authority |
| Operations | Operations | Warehouse and ops staff processing returns |
| Support | Standard | Customer service staff (default for new users) |
| Read Only | Read Only | View-only access |
The Owner role is assigned automatically and cannot be selected in the role dropdown; editable roles are Admin, Standard, Operations and Read Only.
What each role can do
Permissions are role-based and fixed — there are no custom roles or per-permission matrices:
- Process refunds — Admin only
- Access Settings — Admin only
- Manage users (roles, deactivation) — Admin only
- Delete RMAs — Admin only
- Issue additional refunds (top-ups beyond the original refund) — Admin and Owner by default, or any user granted the per-user toggle below
- Day-to-day RMA processing (create, receive, inspect, notes, assignment) — available to Admin, Owner, Operations and Standard
- Read Only users can view RMAs and analytics but cannot make changes
The one per-user permission toggle
For non-admin users, an Admin can enable "Can issue additional refunds" in the user's edit modal. Additional refunds are always capped at what the customer actually paid.
Location and store access
Each user can be scoped in Settings → Users:
- Can access all locations — or Assign to specific locations, plus a Home Location
- On multi-store installs, users can similarly be limited to specific stores
Admins automatically have access to all locations.
Deactivating users
Admins can Deactivate a user (they keep their history but can no longer act) and Reactivate them later. Deactivated users show a Deactivated badge and free up a staff seat for plan limits.
Deactivating a user in ReturnMate does not remove their Shopify store access. Remove or restrict them in Shopify staff settings as well if they are leaving your business.
Read Only role vs read-only mode
Don't confuse two different things:
- The Read Only role is assigned per user by an Admin.
- Read-only mode applies to your whole store when your subscription is inactive — everyone can view but not modify. See Plans, Billing & Usage Limits.
Plan limits on users
Your plan caps active staff users: Ops allows 10, Scale and Enterprise are unlimited. Deactivated users don't count toward the limit.
What ReturnMate does not provide
- Custom roles or configurable permission matrices
- SSO / SAML provisioning (authentication is via Shopify)
- Per-user API keys (the External API uses shop-level clients)
Troubleshooting
- A new staff member sees "Not authenticated" — confirm they can open the app inside Shopify admin; ReturnMate provisions them on first load.
- Someone can't process a refund — refunds are Admin-only; either change their role or have an Admin process it.
- "Limit reached" when adding staff — you're at your plan's staff limit; deactivate unused users or upgrade.