Revenue Analytics
Part of Ecommerce revenue and margin analytics
Gross revenue versus net sales in store reports
Understand how gross product sales become net sales, with checks for discounts, reversals, tax, delivery, order status and dates.
Define “gross revenue” before comparing it with net sales. Identify the starting product value, then check which discounts and reversals the net figure deducts. Also check tax, delivery, order status and dates. Align the orders and dates each report includes before comparing them.
Read the report’s formula
Shopify defines gross sales as product price multiplied by quantity before discounts, tax, shipping and sales reversals. It defines discounts as line-item discounts plus a share of order-level discounts. Do not assume a store report’s “net sales” label means gross sales less discounts and reversals; check the report’s own field definitions. These are Shopify terms, not universal definitions of “gross revenue”.
Component / Check before comparing
- Gross product sales
- Which selling price, quantity and orders are included?
- Discounts
- Are item and order-level discounts assigned consistently?
- Reversals
- Which changes affect product value, and when were they processed?
- Net sales
- Are product adjustments already included? Are tax and delivery separate?
A compare-at price is not a recorded checkout discount in Shopify’s sales terms. Shopify defines discounts as line-item discounts and a share of order-level discounts, created using discount codes rather than compare-at prices. Use the selling price and recorded discount fields when explaining the gap.
Gross Sales vs Net Sales: Key Components in Shopify Reports
- Gross Sales (Shopify definition)Product price × quantity before discounts, tax, shipping, or reversals
- DiscountsLine-item discounts + share of order-level discounts (using discount codes)
- ReversalsAdjustments affecting product value (e.g., returns, cancellations), processed at time of change
- Net Sales (Shopify definition)Gross sales – recorded discounts – reversals (product-value adjustments); tax and delivery excluded
Check a calculation
Suppose a hypothetical product group has A$200 of gross product sales, A$20 of recorded discounts and A$50 of product-value reversals that do not duplicate the discount adjustment. Net product sales under that definition are A$130. Tax and delivery are outside the example.
If the reversal is already reflected in an exported net-sales field, subtracting it again would understate sales. The figures are illustrative: in a real report, confirm that all components refer to the same included sales and use a consistent sign convention.
Check timing and order status
A sale and its later adjustments can appear in different date ranges. A weekly net-sales report can therefore include adjustments to older orders. To assess orders placed during one campaign, follow those order IDs through a stated adjustment cut-off rather than assuming every reversal posted that week belongs to the campaign.
Shopify’s gross sales term includes pending, unpaid and cancelled orders. Sales reports include returns, while the Payments finance report includes refunds. To see refunded figures, add a Payment status column to the Sales over time report, filter for Refunded or Partially refunded, and organise by Payment status. Sales reports and order exports can differ because of timing or reporting logic.
Put the formula, order statuses, time basis, currency and extraction date beside both figures. If the date range excludes either the order creation or return date, widen it or inspect the Sale kind column.
