5 Reports Every Shopify Store Should Run Monthly

Data without discipline is just noise

Most Shopify merchants have access to more data than they know what to do with. Between Shopify's native reports, Google Analytics, email platform dashboards, and various app reports, there is no shortage of numbers. The problem is not data availability — it is data discipline. Without a consistent monthly reporting rhythm, important signals get buried under vanity metrics and dashboard fatigue.

Here are the five reports that, if run consistently every month, will give you a clear picture of your store's financial health and actionable insights to improve it.

Report 1: Store-level P&L (Profit & Loss)

What it is

A comprehensive profit and loss statement for your store, covering a full month. Not just revenue minus COGS — a real P&L that includes every cost that touches your business.

Key line items to include

What to look for

• Trend direction: Is net profit growing, flat, or shrinking? Revenue can grow while profit shrinks — this is the most dangerous pattern.
• Cost ratios: What percentage of revenue is each cost category? Are processing fees, shipping, or app costs growing as a percentage?
• Margin compression: If gross margin is declining month-over-month, investigate whether it is driven by COGS increases, discount creep, or product mix shift.

Report 2: Product profitability ranking

What it is

A per-product report that ranks every active SKU by real profit contribution — after COGS, processing fees, shipping cost, discounts, and refund impact.

What to look for

• Top 10 / Bottom 10: Your top 10 profitable products likely generate 60–80% of your real profit. Your bottom 10 may be actively losing money. Know both lists.
• Margin traps: Products with high revenue but low or negative real margin. These need pricing, cost, or promotion changes.
• Trending down: Products whose profitability dropped versus last month. Early detection prevents small leaks from becoming big problems.

How to act on it

• Increase ad spend allocation toward high-margin products, not just high-revenue ones.
• Set pricing or discount guardrails for margin traps.
• Consider discontinuing persistently unprofitable SKUs.

Report 3: Inventory velocity and aging

What it is

A report that shows how fast each product is selling relative to its stock level, with aging buckets showing how long inventory has been sitting.

Key metrics

• Days of Supply: Current inventory ÷ average daily units sold. How many days until stockout at current velocity?
• Sell-Through Rate: Units sold ÷ (units sold + current inventory). What percentage of available inventory sold this month?
• Aging Buckets: What percentage of inventory is 0–30 days old, 31–60, 61–90, and 90+?

What to look for

• Dead stock (90+ days): These SKUs are tying up cash. Set automatic markdown rules or liquidation channels.
• Stockout risk (<14 days of supply): High-velocity, high-margin products running low need reorder priority.
• Overstock (180+ days of supply): You bought too much. Reduce future PO quantities and promote to clear.

Report 4: Discount ROI analysis

What it is

A report that evaluates the return on investment of every discount code and automatic discount used during the month.

Key metrics per discount

• Orders using this discount: How many times was it redeemed?
• Revenue attributed: Total revenue from orders using this code.
• Discount amount given: Total dollar value of discounts applied.
• Incremental profit: Would these customers have purchased without the discount? This is the hardest to measure but most important to estimate.
• Return rate: Do discounted orders have higher return rates? (They usually do.)

What to look for

• Discount codes with negative ROI: Discounts that drove revenue below what it cost to fulfill those orders.
• Discount cannibalization: Codes used by existing customers who would have purchased anyway.
• Stacking issues: Multiple discounts applied to the same order, compounding the margin impact.

Report 5: App cost audit

What it is

A monthly review of every app installed on your store, its cost, and its measurable impact on revenue or efficiency.

Format

What to look for

• Apps with no measurable impact: If you cannot quantify what an app does for your business, question whether you need it.
• Tier mismatch: Are you on a premium tier when a basic tier covers your needs?
• Native replacements: Has Shopify added a native feature that makes one of your apps redundant?

Building a monthly reporting rhythm

The value of these reports is not in running them once. It is in the monthly discipline of comparing this month to last month and identifying trends before they become crises.

• Day 1–3 of each month: Generate all five reports for the previous month.
• Day 3–5: Review with your team or partner. Identify the top three actions.
• Day 5–10: Implement changes (price adjustments, discount caps, app removals, reorder decisions).
• Day 15: Mid-month check on any changes implemented.