How do you calculate return rate?

Divide what was returned by what was sold, then multiply by 100. If 150 of 1,200 shipped orders had a return, the return rate is 12.5%.

Should I measure return rate by orders, units or revenue?

Use orders to plan support and warehouse work, units to compare products, and revenue for finance. They give different numbers for the same store, so say which one you are reporting.

What is a good ecommerce return rate?

There is no single good number. Return rates differ widely by product category and by how generous the policy is, so compare your rate with your own past months before you compare it with anyone else’s.

Do exchanges count as returns?

Yes. An exchanged item still came back and had to be received and restocked. Report exchanges as their own share too, because an exchange keeps the sale and a refund does not.

Is return rate the same as refund rate?

No. Return rate counts what customers sent back. Refund rate counts money given back, including refunds where the customer keeps the item. A late delivery refunded in full raises the refund rate and leaves the return rate alone.

Can an AI agent handle return requests?

Yes. When you turn returns on, the Aide AI Agent can start a Shopify return for a verified shopper, following your Shopify return rules for the window, excluded items and reasons. Each return is created as a request your store approves by default.

Return rate calculator

See how much of what you ship comes back.

Enter what your store sold and what customers sent back. You get your product return rate by orders, units or revenue, with the formula filled in and what returns cost you a month.Free, no sign-up · Updated November 11, 2026

How return rate is calculated

Short answer

An ecommerce return rate is the share of what a store sold that customers sent back: returns divided by sales, times 100. Measure it by orders, units or revenue, and count the returns that came from the same orders you count as sold.

Your return rate

Enter what you sold and what came back.

How to calculate return rate

The return rate formula is the same whichever way you count: what came back, divided by what you sold, times 100. What changes is the thing you count, and each one answers a different question.

The three return rate formulas

By orders: orders with at least one item returned ÷ orders shipped × 100. Use it to plan support and warehouse work, because every returned order is a conversation, a label and a refund to process.
By units: units returned ÷ units sold × 100. Use it to compare products, sizes and suppliers on equal terms.
By revenue: value refunded for returns ÷ gross sales × 100. Use it for finance. It shows how much of your sales you gave back.

The three rarely match. A store ships 1,200 orders and 150 of them have a return, so its order return rate is 12.5%. Those orders held 3,000 units and 180 came back, so its unit return rate is 6%. Say which one you mean whenever you share the number.

Count returns against the same sales

Returns arrive weeks after the sale. Dividing this month’s returns by this month’s orders mixes two different sets of orders, and the rate swings whenever sales rise or fall. There are two ways to keep it honest:

Cohort. Take the orders placed in one period, wait until their return window has closed, then count how many of those orders came back. It is the accurate version, and it is always a few weeks behind.
Rolling window. Divide the last 90 days of returns by the last 90 days of sales. It is ready sooner, but it reads low while sales are growing and high after a peak, when December’s returns land on January’s sales.

What counts as a return

A return is an item the customer sends back, whether they get a refund, store credit or an exchange. Count exchanges: the item still came back. A refund with nothing sent back, such as a returnless refund for a damaged order, is a refund and not a return, so track it in a separate refund rate. Orders cancelled before they ship are neither.

Ecommerce return rate, for comparison

For one outside reference, the National Retail Federation estimated in October 2025 that 19.3% of online sales would be returned that year, in its 2025 Retail Returns Landscape report. That figure is a share of sales across all of online retail, so set it beside your revenue return rate, not your order or unit rate.

Frequently asked questions

: Divide what was returned by what was sold, then multiply by 100. If 150 of 1,200 shipped orders had a return, the return rate is 12.5%.
: Use orders to plan support and warehouse work, units to compare products, and revenue for finance. They give different numbers for the same store, so say which one you are reporting.
: There is no single good number. Return rates differ widely by product category and by how generous the policy is, so compare your rate with your own past months before you compare it with anyone else’s.
: Yes. An exchanged item still came back and had to be received and restocked. Report exchanges as their own share too, because an exchange keeps the sale and a refund does not.
: No. Return rate counts what customers sent back. Refund rate counts money given back, including refunds where the customer keeps the item. A late delivery refunded in full raises the refund rate and leaves the return rate alone.
: Yes. When you turn returns on, the Aide AI Agent can start a Shopify return for a verified shopper, following your Shopify return rules for the window, excluded items and reasons. Each return is created as a request your store approves by default.

Return requests, handled in the conversation

Aide answers return questions in chat and email, and starts Shopify returns for verified shoppers. Free includes 150 AI replies a month.

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