Order vs Return (Monthly) Report for Shopify
A report interpreting monthly returns by comparing the total sales value with the sales value of returned orders, including percentage calculations for both return orders and return value.
5 from 1,800+ merchants
2,000+ data fields
Trusted by 40,000+ Shopify stores
Updated June 2026
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Why this report matters
Returns rarely spike overnight — they creep. A point here, a point there, and six months later returns are quietly eating a chunk of margin nobody decided to give up. A monthly orders-vs-returns view is how you catch the creep early.
Shopify shows refunds on orders and in finance summaries, but a clean monthly orders-against-returns ratio you can track isn’t native on lower plans. So the trend that matters most for margin is the one you can’t easily see.
Putting orders, returns, and return rates side by side each month turns returns from a month-end surprise into a managed metric. With returns a leading drag on ecommerce profitability, a stable or falling return rate is one of the clearest signs your product and sizing decisions are working.
What’s included
Monthly counts
Month
The calendar month each row represents.
Total orders
Orders placed in the month.
Return orders
Orders with a return/refund processed in the month.
Heads up: A return is counted in the month it’s processed, which may differ from the month the order was placed — so a month’s rate blends current and prior sales.
Value
Sales value
Net sales for the month, the denominator for the value rate.
Formula: Net sales = Gross − Discounts − Returns
Return value
Total value refunded in the month.
Rates
Return order rate
Share of orders that resulted in a return — the count-based view.
Formula: Return order rate = Return orders ÷ Total orders × 100
Example: 120 returns on 2,000 orders = 6% return order rate.
Return value rate
Share of revenue lost to returns — the money view, often more important.
Formula: Return value rate = Return value ÷ Sales value × 100
Heads up: Count and value rates can diverge: a few high-value returns can keep the value rate high even when the order rate looks fine.
Who uses this report
Finance
Merchandising / quality
CX lead
Owner
How to read the report
- Watch the value rate over the count rate. Losing 6% of orders matters less than losing 11% of revenue; the money rate is the one margin feels.
- Read the trend, not the month. One month is noise; three rising months in a row is a problem worth a root-cause hunt.
- Mind the timing offset. Returns land in the month processed, so a spike can belong to a prior month’s sales — don’t over-react to one period.
- Drill when a month jumps. Pair a bad month with the Refund Report to find the product, reason, or channel behind it.
How to build the report in Report Pundit
- Open Report Pundit in your Shopify admin and choose Create Report (or the pre-built “Order vs Return (Monthly)” template).
- Set the data source to Sales / Orders with returns included.
- Group by Month of the order/return date.
- Add columns: Total orders, Return orders, Sales value, Return value.
- Add a calculated Return order rate (return orders ÷ total orders).
- Add a calculated Return value rate (return value ÷ sales value).
- Set the date range to 12+ months for a real trend.
- Run, sanity-check one month against the Refund Report, and Save.
- Schedule a monthly send to finance and CX, or export to Google Sheets to chart the trend.
Sample report
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Customization & filters
- Switch the grain to weekly or quarterly.
- Filter by product type, channel, or location.
- Add a rolling-average column to smooth the trend.
- Drill a spike into the Refund Report for root cause.
- Add a margin-at-risk calculated column where cost is set.
Automate & export
- Schedules — hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or custom cron
- Delivery formats — Excel, CSV, PDF, or push to Google Sheets in real time
- Group by month or week — trends instead of a static snapshot
- Destinations — email (multiple recipients), Google Sheets, Google Drive, FTP/SFTP, Looker Studio, BigQuery
- Conditional alerts — get notified only if a channel's net sales drop more than X% week-over-week
Report Pundit vs Shopify's native Sales by Channel report
Frequently Asked Questions
Order rate is the share of orders returned; value rate is the share of revenue refunded. They can diverge — a few expensive returns can keep the value rate high even when the order rate looks healthy — and the value rate is what margin feels.
Returns are counted in the month they’re processed, not when the order was placed. So a month’s rate blends current and earlier sales; read the trend rather than over-reacting to one period.
Yes. Shopify’s native history caps around 13 months; Report Pundit can report further back, which matters for a real returns trend and year-over-year view.
Benefits
Returned Orders Percentage
Troubleshoot High Return Rates
Returns Effect on Overall Revenue
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