Shopify profit reports: check shipping and duty costs

Shopify’s 23 September 2026 Analytics update changed how profitability data handles orders with both duties and other shipping costs, and improved support for different currencies. If a margin report now looks different, check the underlying costs before treating the movement as a change in trading performance.

Shopify specifically names Average profit margin by market and Profit margin by order, alongside custom reports using the affected data. The announcement does not say every store’s profit will rise or fall, or quantify the effect.

Start with the market, then inspect orders

In Analytics → Reports, filter the category to Profit Margin. Shopify’s profit-report guide explains that the market report groups customer charges and store costs, including shipping, duties and import taxes. Select a market and choose View market report by order to inspect its orders. Opening Profit margin by order directly instead covers all markets unless you filter it.

Our suggested check is to choose a small set of orders you can reconcile against your own records. Keep the date range, currency and market filters consistent. Compare the amounts collected from customers with the costs borne by the store, and note any missing or unexpected entries before drawing conclusions from an average.

Do not substitute product gross margin

Shopify’s product gross-profit reports use net sales and recorded product costs. Products or variants need a cost recorded at the time of sale to appear correctly; discounts and refunds also affect the result. Those product figures answer a different question from the broader market/order reports.

A useful review separates three questions: did sales change, did the costs of serving those orders change, or did the reporting treatment change? More than one can be true. Investigate the orders that explain the difference rather than changing shipping prices solely because a dashboard percentage moved.

Keep a record of the comparison

Save the report settings, the orders checked and what you found. If you use an exported report in a weekly trading pack, record when it was generated so colleagues can reproduce the comparison. Keep unresolved discrepancies visible instead of silently replacing an old figure.

For related reporting context, see our guide to Analytics notes. Notes can help preserve the timeline of a campaign or operational change; they do not prove what caused a movement in profit.