Revenue Analytics
Part of Product performance analytics
Finding products with high revenue but weak margin
Screen high-selling products for weak margin using comparable retained sales, dollar profit, cost coverage and adjustment dates.
Find high-revenue, weak-margin products by ranking products on retained product sales, then checking profit for the same eligible sales. Look at the amount left in dollars as well as the percentage. A thin-margin bestseller can still contribute more dollars than a small item with a high margin rate.
Screen comparable products
Choose a sales period, channel, currency, qualifying-order rule and adjustment cut-off. For each product, show retained product sales after the included discounts and product-value reversals. State whether tax and customer-paid delivery are outside the measure. If a source field already includes an adjustment, do not deduct it again.
| Product-level column | Why it belongs in the screen |
|---|---|
| Retained product sales and units | Establishes scale under one sales rule |
| Sales with usable cost data | Shows how much of the product can be assessed for margin |
| Gross profit in dollars | Shows sales remaining after assigned product cost |
| Gross margin percentage | Makes products of different sales sizes easier to compare |
| Defined contribution, if available | Adds specified further costs and recoveries |
Shopify's sales reports define gross sales as product price × quantity before taxes, shipping, discounts and sales reversals. They include pending, cancelled and unpaid orders, but exclude test and deleted orders. Build an order-level population if the question concerns paid or completed orders. For a retained-sales view of an order cohort, set an adjustment cut-off and apply reversals consistently.
Check the cost coverage
Shopify's gross-profit-by-product report considers variants only when cost was recorded at the time of sale. Its net-sales coverage may differ from a sales report. Compare the profit-report sales with the eligible product sales before ranking margins. A blank cost is unknown, not zero.
Gross profit and contribution answer different questions. For a wider product decision, contribution may also deduct recorded fulfilment, payment and return-handling costs under a stated allocation rule. Returned stock needs its actual cost treatment: a resaleable return and an unrecoverable item do not have the same outcome. Keep the custom contribution definition separate from Shopify's reported gross profit.
For illustration, A$10,000 of retained product sales less A$7,000 of properly assigned product cost gives A$3,000 gross profit, or 30% of sales. If A$1,500 of defined further costs applies, contribution is A$1,500, or 15%. These figures show the calculation, not a store result or target.
Profitability Indicators for Flagged Products
- Cost Coverage Status
- Partial (cost recorded for variants)
- Sales Rule Applied
- Retained product sales after discounts and reversals
- Tax & Delivery Inclusion
- Excluded from measure
- Return Handling Treatment
- Actual cost applied (resaleable vs unrecoverable)
Diagnose before changing the range
Break a flagged product down by variant and period. Check whether discounts, product cost, return outcomes or sales mix drove the result. Compare products only where cost coverage and sales rules are sufficiently alike. If they are not, label margin unconfirmed and identify the missing records.
A pricing change, supplier-cost review or range decision should follow the specific cause found in the product records. Keep the sales amount, dollar contribution, percentage and remaining uncertainty together in the decision record.
Diagnosing Weak Margin in High-Revenue Products
- Break down by variant and periodIdentify performance trends across product variants and time frames
- Check discount impactAssess whether deep or frequent discounts reduced margin
- Review product cost accuracyConfirm cost data is assigned at sale time; blank = unknown, not zero
- Evaluate return outcomesDistinguish between resaleable returns and unrecoverable items
- Compare only like-for-like productsEnsure consistent cost coverage and sales rules before comparison
