Returns analytics and reporting software for Shopify.
Find out what a return actually costs you — then stop paying for it.
ReturnMate reports the true cost of returns across freight, handling, inspection labour, parts, replacement value and write-downs; return rate by SKU, reason and channel; carrier cost and performance; SLA attainment by team; and the resolution mix that determines how much margin you keep. Everything exports to CSV, BI or a webhook.
Most merchants can tell you their return rate. Very few can tell you what a return costs, and almost none can tell you how much of that cost belongs to somebody else. That second number is usually the largest recoverable line in a post-sale operation.
Illustrative figures. The point isn't the numbers — it's that they're calculable at all once every leg, minute and part is recorded against the RMA.
Rate is the headline. Reason is the story.
A 4% return rate tells you nothing actionable. The same 4% split by reason tells you whether you have a photography problem, a packaging problem, a supplier problem or a sizing problem — and each has a different owner.
- Return rate by SKU, product family, collection and channel
- Reason breakdown with average cost attached to each reason
- Rate measured against units sold in the same window, not against total returns
- Customer-reported reason kept separate from what inspection actually found
- Repeat-return customers and repeat-return serials surfaced separately
- Rolling 30, 90 and 365-day windows so seasonality doesn't hide a trend
Where a reason turns out to be a product problem rather than a process one, it flows into fault tracking.
One dashboard, not a warehouse of CSVs.
Everything on this page is a view in the ReturnMate admin, filterable by date, location, store, workflow type, product family or assignee — and exportable at whatever scope you filtered to.
- Saved views per user, shareable across the team
- Filter by store, location, workflow type, product family, reason or assignee
- Compare any two periods side by side
- Drill from a chart straight into the RMA list behind it
Freight is the biggest line, and the least examined.
Inbound and outbound legs, priced by carrier and by lane, with transit time and exception rate beside the cost. This is where a dangerous-goods surcharge or a bad depot route shows up as a number rather than a feeling.
- Shipping cost by direction — inbound returns priced separately from outbound replacements
- Cost per carrier, per service and per lane
- Transit time and exception rate beside the cost, so cheap-but-slow is visible
- Dangerous goods legs isolated, since they price differently by definition
- Carrier claim recovery tracked against damage-in-transit volume
- Freight versus parcel split, and what proportion of returns needed which
Where returns actually sit still.
Time-in-state per step, measured in business hours. Most "slow returns" complaints turn out to be one step — usually the gap between arrival and inspection — and you can't fix it until you can see it isolated.
1 business day94%▲ 3PP ON PRIOR 30D
2 business days81%▼ 5PP · BOTTLENECK
5 business days76%— FLAT
to resolution5.2d▲ 0.4D FASTER
- SLA attainment per status, calculated in business hours with public holidays excluded
- Time-in-state so you can see which step holds the queue
- Throughput and resolution time by assignee, team and location
- Breach and near-breach volumes, and whether disputes are distorting them
- Transfer time between locations reported separately from work time
- Technician labour minutes per job, per SKU and per fault type
How much of the sale you actually keep.
A refund returns the money. An exchange, a credit or a repair keeps most of it. The resolution mix is the single clearest measure of whether your returns operation is defending revenue or just processing losses.
revenue lost
revenue held
revenue held
unit saved
revenue added
- Refund, exchange, store credit, warranty repair, paid repair and write-off volumes
- Margin retained per resolution type and overall
- Paid repair revenue reported as revenue, not buried in returns cost
- Restocking fee income and how often fees were waived
- Write-off volume and value, by reason and by SKU
- Mix compared across stores and locations
Which options a customer is offered — and therefore this mix — is configured in the customer portal.
Your data doesn't have to live here.
Reporting is only useful where the decision gets made. Every view exports, and the underlying events push out in real time — so ReturnMate can be the source of truth without being the only place anyone can look at it.
CSV export
Any filtered list, at any scope, on demand.
Scheduled reports
Emailed to the people who won't log in.
Webhooks
Events pushed to your BI, ERP or data warehouse as they happen.
Supplier packs
Fault and cost evidence formatted for a claim conversation.
- Exports carry the filters you applied — no re-cutting in a spreadsheet
- Every figure traceable back to the RMAs behind it
- Audit log exportable for finance and compliance
- Webhook events for real-time downstream sync
Four questions that usually get answered by opinion.
Analytics earns its place when a recurring argument stops needing a loudest voice.
Which product is losing us money?
Return rate alone doesn't say. Return rate times cost per return, against margin per unit, does.
RETURN COST VS MARGIN, PER SKUShould we repair this or replace it?
Average cost-to-repair per SKU against replacement cost, with the labour actually recorded.
COST TO REPAIR VS UNIT COSTIs this carrier worth the rate?
Cost per leg beside transit time and exception rate, by lane rather than in aggregate.
CARRIER COST, SPEED AND FAILURE RATEWhy is one location slower?
Time-in-state per site separates a staffing problem from a transfer problem.
SLA AND THROUGHPUT BY LOCATIONAnalytics questions.
What does returns analytics software actually report?
At minimum, return rate and reasons. A returns analytics tool worth having also reports the cost of processing those returns — freight both directions, receiving and inspection labour, parts, replacement value and write-downs — plus carrier performance, SLA attainment, and the resolution mix that determines how much revenue you keep. ReturnMate reports all of it from one data model, because every leg, minute, part and decision is already recorded against the RMA as work happens. Nothing has to be reconstructed at month end.
How do you calculate the true cost of a return?
By summing what was actually recorded on the job: inbound freight, receiving and grading labour, inspection and technician time at your configured rate, parts consumed at cost, outbound freight for replacements or repaired units, and restock loss where an item was graded down or written off. Because it comes from recorded work rather than an assumption, it holds up when finance asks.
Can I see returns cost by SKU and supplier?
Yes — and this is usually where the recoverable money is. Cost rolls up by SKU, product family, fault type, batch and supplier, so you can separate the cost you caused from the cost a supplier caused. Supplier-attributable cost then feeds the claim workflow described on fault tracking.
Does it report carrier cost and performance?
Yes. Cost per leg by carrier, service and lane, with inbound priced separately from outbound, plus average transit time and exception rate. Dangerous goods legs are isolated because they price differently, and carrier claim recovery is tracked against damage-in-transit volume.
Can I measure my team's performance?
Yes. SLA attainment per status in business hours, time-in-state so you can see which step holds the queue, and throughput and resolution time by assignee, team and location. Disputed RMAs pause the SLA clock so they don't distort the numbers.
What is resolution mix and why does it matter?
Resolution mix is the proportion of returns ending in a refund versus an exchange, store credit, warranty repair, paid repair or write-off. A refund gives the revenue back; the others largely keep it. Mix is the clearest single measure of whether your returns operation defends revenue or just processes losses — and it's directly changeable by what the portal offers customers.
Can I export the data or push it into our BI tool?
Yes. Any filtered view exports to CSV carrying the filters you applied, reports can be scheduled by email, and webhook events push RMA and fault data to your BI, ERP or data warehouse in real time. Every figure is traceable back to the RMAs behind it.
Does it work across multiple stores and locations?
Yes. Every report filters to one store, one location, a region or the whole group, and location comparison is built in — including transfer time between sites reported separately from work time.
How much does it cost?
Analytics is part of the ReturnMate platform, not a separate product. ReturnMate has a Free plan at $0/month including 5 RMAs. Starter is $49/month for up to 50 RMAs, with Growth, Ops, Scale and Enterprise plans available for larger operations. See full pricing →
Related capabilities.
When a cost turns out to be a defect.
Failure rates by SKU, batch and supplier, threshold alerts, and the evidence packs that turn attributed cost into a recovered credit.
Read more →§ RMA MANAGEMENTWhere every number on this page comes from.
Twelve workflow types, per-item resolution, business-hour SLA and an audit log that records every mutation with its author.
Read more →Stop guessing what returns cost you.
See the reporting running on your own returns data. Billed through Shopify, cancel from inside Shopify.