Operations metric

Return rate

The share of the units you sold that buyers returned for a refund, for each channel.

1. 1

   1 · How we calculate it

   Refunded units divided by units sold, per channel.

   Return rate=Refunded units÷Units sold

   We divide the refunded units by the units sold over the last 12 complete months, for each channel.

2. 2

   2 · Where the data comes from

   It needs one kind of data, from a system you connect.

   Data	From
   Orders and refunds on every sales channel	Shopify, Amazon Seller Central, TikTok Shop

3. 3

   3 · What we compare it with

   US retailers estimate that 19.3% of online sales come back.

   19.3%Estimate · National Retail Federation

   The National Retail Federation asked 358 ecommerce professionals at large US merchants for their estimate for 2025.¹ It’s an estimate, not a count of returns.

   Their basis	An estimate by merchants with over $500 million in revenue. Ours counts your own refunds.
   Their unit	A share of sales in dollars. Ours is a share of units.
   Their scope	All US online sales in 2025, as merchants estimated them.

   19.3% estimateNorthwind Pet Co · 8%

   0%25%

   Below their estimate

   National Retail Federation, Oct 15, 2025 →