Shopify Net Sales Analytics

Net sales in Shopify are the total revenue a store generates after accounting for discounts, customer returns, and other deductions.

Note: Net Sales is not the same as Profit. Net Sales do not account for the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

What is Net Sales used for?

• Net Sales is a major KPI measured in the Income Statements.
• Measuring Net Sales over time (e.g., Week over Week or Month over Month) shows the store’s overall health and benchmarks it against competitors.
• Net Sales lets you track how well you manage discounts and refunds and inform pricing decisions.

Cash basis vs. accrual basis: which Net Sales metric should you use?

Mixtable provides two Net Sales metrics, so you can choose the one that fits your reporting needs.

Net Sales (matches Shopify’s reports)

In Mixtable this metric is labeled Net Sales. It uses a cash basis calculation: revenue is recognized when payment is collected, and refunds are booked in the month the refund occurs. This is the same method Shopify uses in its own Analytics reports, so the numbers you see in Mixtable will align with what Shopify shows in the Shopify admin.

Use this option when you want to cross-check your Mixtable numbers against Shopify’s native reporting.

Net Sales (Accrual Basis)

In Mixtable this metric is labeled Net Sales (Accrual Basis). Both revenue and refunds are tied to the month the original order was placed: revenue is recognized when the order is created, and if that order is later refunded, the refund is also booked against that original order month rather than the month the refund occurred. This is the standard method used in formal accounting and income statements.

Use this option when you are preparing financial reports or working with an accountant who expects accrual-based figures.

How to add Net Sales data to your worksheet

If you have already created a Mixtable spreadsheet for your Shopify store, you can quickly add either Net Sales metric to an existing worksheet.

Note: The worksheet needs to be showing product or collection information. E.g., Products (with variants), Products (no variants), Manual Collections, Automated Collections.

To load new Shopify data, start by selecting an empty column — any column with a non-green header (green headers mean the column is already linked to Shopify data). Then, click the button in the column header to open the selection window to choose the data you want to pull in.

• From the Shopify Sync Settings window, choose Analytics

• Then, select the Net Sales metric

• Select the time range that you want the {{object2}} to be calculated for

  • All orders - all sales since the creation of the store
  • Fixed date range - show data for a specific period between two dates
  • Dynamic date range - calculate the Net Sales for a dynamic time period in the past, e.g., last 7 days, last 30 days. If you select this option, the Net Sales will be recalculated daily as the date range window moves forward.
  • Calendar year and month - show the Net Sales for a specific year (e.g., 2023) or a particular month (e.g., August 2024)

When selecting the metric from the drop-down list, choose Net Sales for cash basis (matching Shopify’s reports) or Net Sales (Accrual Basis) for accrual-based reporting.

PRO TIP - Start with one of our pre-built Analytics templates

Instead of manually loading the Net Sales data in a worksheet, you can get going faster by starting with one of our Analytics template spreadsheets. These spreadsheets come pre-loaded with the types of analytics that our clients tend to need most.

• After installing the Mixtable Analytics Spreadsheet app, click the Create Spreadsheet button.
• In the dialog that appears, select the Sales by Year or Sales by Month pre-built spreadsheets.

• The worksheet will automatically load with the following columns:

  • Product Title

  • Handle

  • Net sales:

    • a column showing Net Sales for all orders
    • a column showing Net Sales for each of the last 24 calendar months

Note: This spreadsheet has two worksheets - one for Net Sales and one for Gross Sales.

Optional - Net Sales for a Customer Segment

Mixtable Analytics Spreadsheet allows the Net Sales data to be filtered based on the customer segments you have created in Shopify.

• From the Shopify Sync Settings window, choose Analytics

• Then, select the Net Sales metric

• Select the time range that you want the Net Sales to be calculated for

  • All orders - all data since the creation of the store
  • Fixed date range - show data for a specific period between two dates
  • Dynamic date range — Calculate the Net Sales for a dynamic period in the past, e.g., the last 7 days or the last 30 days. If you select this option, the Net Sales will be recalculated daily as the date range window moves forward.
  • Calendar year and month - show the Net Sales for a specific year (e.g., 2023) or a particular month (e.g., September 2024)

• Now, use the Filter orders based on Customer Segment defined in Shopify Admin section to select the customer segment.

Note: The customer segments shown are the ones you have defined in your Shopify Admin. To add or change your segments, please use the Shopify Admin, and Mixtable will automatically reflect your changes.

Optional - Net Sales by Country

• From the Shopify Sync Settings window, choose Analytics

• Then, select the Net Sales metric

• Select the time range that you want the Net Sales to be calculated for

  • All orders - all data since the creation of the store
  • Fixed date range - show data for a specific period between two dates
  • Dynamic date range — Calculate the Net Sales for a dynamic time in the past, e.g., the last 7 days or the last 30 days. If you select this option, the Net Sales will be recalculated daily as the date range window moves forward.
  • Calendar year and month - show the Net Sales for a specific year (e.g., 2024) or a particular month (e.g., May 2024)

• Use the Filter orders based on customer's country to select the country to show the Net Sales.

You are ready!

Well done! Now that you have Net Sales data in an online spreadsheet, you can use any Excel function to analyze the data, such as:

• Sort ascending or descending,
• Find-replace,
• Filter,
• Use Excel formulas, e.g., for price changes, etc.

Find out more about the Mixtable suite of products here.