Read return reports in Shopify
Returns show up in your analytics: the reasons customers give and the refunds you issued. This tutorial reads one month of returns, 40 returns and $1,214.00 refunded, and finds the pattern worth acting on.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Returns in November | 40 |
| Refunded in November | $1,214.00 |
| Average refund | $30.35 |
| Top reason | Too small, 12, 30% |
Download the summary: return-reports-summary.csv (124 bytes).
A summary of November returns in this tutorial. The counts add to 40 and the shares add to 100%. Total refunded for the month was $1,214.00, an average of $30.35 per return. It is a record, not an import file.
1Open your analytics
From your Shopify admin, open Analytics. The return is reflected in your total sales reports, and return reasons can be viewed in your analytics.
2Read the return reasons
Look at reasons by count: Too small 12, Changed mind 11, Too big 9, Damaged 4, Other 4. The counts are the month's returns, not a sample.
3Work out the shares
Divide each count by the month's total of 40. Too small is 12 of 40, which is 30%. Changed mind is 27.5%, Too big is 22.5%, and Damaged and Other are 10% each.
4Check the money
Total refunded, $1,214.00, across 40 returns is $30.35 per return on average. That average is the number to watch month to month, not the total alone.
5Act on the top reason
Too small and Too big together are 21 of 40 returns, which is 52.5%: a sizing problem. Fix the size guide or the product measurements before you change the return policy.
The arithmetic
The month's returns counted by reason, and the refunds averaged across them. Every share is the count divided by 40.
| Reason | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Too small | 12 | 30% |
| Changed mind | 11 | 27.5% |
| Too big | 9 | 22.5% |
| Damaged | 4 | 10% |
| Other | 4 | 10% |
| Total | 40 | 100% |
12 plus 11 plus 9 plus 4 plus 4 is 40, and the shares add to 100%. The average refund is 1,214.00 divided by 40, which is $30.35. Sizing reasons, 21 of 40, are 52.5%.
Held at the counter
Refund-only fixes undercount the reasons. A refund without a return does not record a return reason. Months with many refund-only fixes will show fewer reasons than the real number of unhappy customers.
Reasons vary by product category. Compare reasons within a category before you act. A sizing problem on apparel and a defect problem on electronics are different fixes that happen to share a month.
A refunded sale is not still a sale. The return is reflected in your total sales reports. Read the sales reports after returns, or you will count money you gave back as money you kept.
Sources
- Creating returns and exchanges — Shopify's help pages: the create-return steps, the return shipping options, the fee-edit rules, the exchange-item rules, and the category-specific return reasons.