What Is Shopify Total Sales and How Is It Calculated?
Shopify total sales is the gross amount your store earned from orders before Shopify fees and payment charges are removed. Shopify calculates it as: Gross Sales minus Discounts minus Returns, plus Taxes, Shipping & Fees. Gross Sales is the product price multiplied by the quantity ordered, and Net Sales is Gross Sales minus discounts and returns. Total sales is the widest revenue number Shopify reports, but it is not your take-home profit.
As a Shopify store owner, you might have asked yourself at least once, "How much have we sold this month?"
It sounds simple, but total sales can be surprisingly tricky to manage, especially when you start digging into what’s included, what’s not, and how it all connects to your actual revenue. And here, the total sales report works effectively.
In this blog, you will know everything about Shopify's total sales, how it’s calculated, and how it can help you get detailed and clearer with your numbers.
Understanding Total Sales in Shopify
Shopify gives you multiple ways to find your total sales. You can view it in your Analytics Dashboard, under “Total Sales,” or go into pre-built reports that break sales down by product, variant, vendor, location, sales channel (POS or online), and more.
Shopify provides 21 native reports combined with total sales data, but what you see depends on your Shopify plan. For merchants looking for custom time ranges, added filters, or deeper breakdowns (like currency conversions, staff performance, or sales by region), Shopify’s native reporting can be a little confusing.
Looking to dive deeper into the various types of Shopify sales reports? Visit our Shopify Sales Report blog for a complete overview.
You can track total sales daily, weekly, monthly, or any custom timeframe in the Shopify dashboard. Also, it filters the report by tags, vendors, product type, or even campaigns, and exports shareable reports to Excel, CSV, or Google Sheets.
To track how this number moves across days, weeks, and months, check our guide on the Shopify total sales over time report
How to Find Your Total Sales in Shopify
You can view total sales in two places inside Shopify:
From the Analytics dashboard:
- Log in to your Shopify admin.
- Click Analytics in the left menu.
- Look for the Total Sales metric card on the Overview dashboard..
- Adjust the date range in the top corner to change the period.
From the Reports section:
- Go to Analytics, then Reports.
- Open the Sales category.
- Select Total Sales Over Time for a trend view, or another sales report for a breakdown by product, channel, or location.
- Set your date range and export to CSV
The dashboard card gives you a single headline figure. The reports give you the breakdown behind it. For custom date comparisons, added filters, or a combined view across stores, a reporting app extends what the native reports show.
Why Shopify Total Sales Is Important
Let’s make one thing crystal clear- Shopify's total sales are not the total profit. It’s the gross amount of money your store has generated, with a few additions.
Here’s Shopify’s basic formula:
Total Sales = Gross Sales − Discounts −Returns+ Taxes + Shipping Charges + Fees
And Net Sales? That’s calculated like this:
Net Sales = Gross Sales - Discounts - Returns
And, Gross sales are just the product price multiplied by the quantity ordered. So if you sold 10 t-shirts at $20 each, that’s $200 gross. If you offered a 10% discount and had 1 return, Shopify subtracts those from gross to arrive at net.
Reporting apps help you break down each of these terms with precision so that you can have an idea of how much of your total sales came from shipping or additional.
How Is Total Sales Calculated?
Here’s an example:
Total Sales = (Product Price × Quantity) - Discounts - Refunds + Shipping + Taxes + Fees + Additional Fee + Duties
You sell 5 items at $100 each, give a $50 discount, take 1 item back as a return worth $100, and the order includes $10 shipping, $8 taxes, and $5 in additional fee & duties
Remember: $373 is not your take-home money. You still pay transaction fees, payment gateway charges, and other Shopify deductions out of this number.
Your payouts are lower than your total sales, that’s because of hidden fees like transaction costs, Shopify platform fees, currency conversion losses, and so on.
Difference between Shopify Total Sales and Net Sales
Here’s where a lot of merchants get confused. Total sales and net sales are not interchangeable.
- Net sales give you a clearer idea of product revenue after discounts and refunds.
- Total sales is the bigger picture- it includes everything your customer paid, from shipping to taxes
If you’re tracking revenue, net sales might be more accurate. But if you’re reporting to investors, budgeting advertising, or preparing tax estimates, total sales give the broader context.
Report Pundit makes it easy to see both sides by side. You can customize your report layout, compare performance month-over-month, and even automate delivery of these insights to stakeholders.
Do Shopify Total Sales Include Shipping?
Yes, Shopify’s total sales include shipping fees charged to the customer. So if a customer pays $50 for a product and $5 for shipping, your total sales will show $55.
It’s added to your revenue, but doesn’t add up for what you paid for shipping the order. If you paid $7 to your courier, your net profit drops. Shopify’s reports don’t calculate this difference.
This is where app shipping-inclusive reports help. They let you separate what customers paid vs. what you paid (shipping label), so you know exactly how shipping impacts your margins.
With reporting apps, you get visibility into this “missing money” gap. You can compare your total sales to actual payouts, factor in costs, and even calculate profit per order. This kind of clarity allows you to make better business decisions about pricing, marketing, and operations.
Conclusion
Shopify’s Total Sales metric offers a big-picture view of your store’s earnings — but knowing what’s behind the number is key. By understanding how it’s calculated and what it includes, you can make better business decisions, avoid confusion, and get a clearer sense of your store’s financial health.
FAQ's
How is total sales calculated in Shopify?
Shopify calculates total sales as Gross Sales minus Discounts and Returns, plus Shipping, Taxes, Duties & Fees. Gross Sales is the product price multiplied by the quantity ordered. The result is the total amount customers paid, before Shopify and payment processing fees are removed.
What is the formula for calculating total sales?
The formula is: Total Sales = Gross Sales - Discounts - Returns + Shipping + Taxes + Duties + Fees. It starts from net sales (gross sales after discounts and returns) and adds back the other charges the customer paid.
How do I get a total sales report on Shopify?
Go to Analytics, then Reports, then open the Sales category and select a sales report such as Total Sales Over Time. Set your date range and export to CSV. The Analytics Overview also shows a Total Sales card for a quick figure.
How can I see how many sales my Shopify store is doing?
The Total Sales card on the Analytics Overview shows your revenue for the selected period, and the order count sits alongside it. For a trend across days, weeks, or months, use the Total Sales Over Time report under Analytics, Reports, Sales.
How do I check total sales of a single product on Shopify?
Open Analytics, then Reports, then the Sales category, and choose Total Sales by Product. Filter to the product you want to see its total sales for the selected date range. This isolates one product's revenue from the store total.
Does Shopify total sales include shipping?
Yes. Shopify total sales includes the shipping fees charged to the customer. If a customer pays $50 for a product and $5 for shipping, total sales shows $55. It does not subtract what you paid your courier, so it does not reflect your shipping margin.
Is total sales the same as profit?
No. Total sales is the gross amount customers paid before Shopify fees, payment processing charges, cost of goods, and other expenses. Profit is what remains after those costs. Total sales is always higher than your actual take-home amount.
