Table of Contents
Why the Sales by Month Report is Important
Besides tracking the number of deals made each month, this type of summary might include several other data indicators pertinent for monitoring the store's business performance.
The functionality of the reporting tool allows you to see the progressions in key sales indicators contrasted with earlier time periods, such as yearly averages.
The report, by default, offers data on general sales, displaying such columns as the number of orders, gross sales, total sales, tax, discounts, and returns.
Using filters, the data can be tailored more representative of your needs. For example, you can see the month with the highest sales within the specified time range. Alternatively, you can track the month with the lowest sales. Such information can be useful for inventory planning and marketing purposes.
What Questions a Summary on Sales by Month Can Answer
This type of summary compiles a list of all orders that have been placed in a store each month within the specified date range. Start with this report to get a high-level overview of your sales.
The data it displays can be used to answer such questions as:
- What number of orders has the store had each month for the last year or more?
- How do the key sales indicators (gross, net, and total sales) change month by month?
- How to see the tax, refunds, and discounts the store had on orders each month?
- What is the monthly total number of orders and items purchased?
- What is the gross profit and gross margin for each month?
Expand this list of answers you may get on your sales by using additional data columns and data filters.
Key Sales Indicators in a Monthly Report
Use the data summary on sales provided by the Advanced Reports app to stay informed on key order statistics. Expand it with additional columns to get a detailed overview. For example, you can see the weeks in which you had sales during a given month.
Track order volume, gross, and total sales within the chosen time period. Sales overview output for each sales day displays such data as:
- Number of orders
- Taxes
- Discounts
- Refunds
- Shipping costs
- Gross, net, and total sales
Use these columns to glance at the current financial and fulfillment statuses for each order within the selected dates.
Reports Similar to Sales by Month
If it is necessary to track sales summary within other time periods, the reporting tool allows you to switch to the day, week, the hour of the day, or year.
However, you are not limited to the aforementioned time periods. Generate the report on sales based on other factors, such as sales by customer group.
In conjunction with the monthly sales report, a store manager can often use such summaries as:
- Sales by Day: Use it to see the sales information that occurred for every day within the specified time range.
- Sales by Hour: A convenient method to know the exact time when your store has the busiest hours. See the sales that occurred every hour.
- Sales by Year: Use it as a yearly summary of sales in your store and compare it with data from previous years.
- Sales by Channel: See what channels bring sales to your store. Get information on whether it is an offline POS or an online store.
- Sales by Customer: Get more information on what customer types make your sales.
- Sales by Discount: See what marketing campaigns had the most success in your store.
- Sales by Product: Displays the information on purchases for each product name or SKU.
- Average Order Value Over Time: It shows how the average check has changed over a certain time period, for example, for a month.
- Sales by Day of Week: Quickly see which day of the week brings you the most number of orders.
- Sales by Product Type/Variant/Collection: Find out what type of products/variants/collections bring sales to your store.
Key Columns for Sales by Month
Typically, the table with the data on purchases and their sales consists of such columns as:
- Sales Date Month
- Orders Number of orders
- Orders Gross Sales
- Orders Discounts
- Refunds Returns
- Orders Net Sales
- Orders Shipping
- Orders Tax
- Orders Total Sales
You are totally free to exclude any of the existing columns from the report or add more. Simply choose available columns from the list.
Here is how some of the key columns in the default report are calculated:
- Refunds Returns: It is calculated through Refunds Total Gross Amount and Order Adjustments Total Amount data columns.
- Orders Net Sales: It is used to display what is left after the discounts and refunds are extracted from gross sales.
- Orders Shipping: Allows tracking the sums on order shipping.
- Orders Tax: Depicts the sum of taxes excluding taxes on refunded items.
- Orders Total Sales: It is the final default column of the report, which sums net sales, shipping, and tax.
[Refunds Returns] = [Refunds Total Gross Amount] – [Order Adjustments Total Amount]
[Orders Net Sales] = [Orders Gross Sales] – [Orders Discounts] – [Refunds Returns]
[Orders Shipping] = [Orders Shipping amount] – [Order Adjustments Total Shipping Amount]
[Orders Tax] = [Orders Taxes] – [Refund Items Total Tax Amount]
[Orders Total Sales] = [Orders Net Sales] + [Orders Shipping] + [Orders Tax]
Variations of the Sales Overview Report
You can get another view on sales besides the overview. Using variations of the default report, you can obtain a clearer insight into the business performance of your store.
One of the easiest ways to glance at the business success is to compare a specific date range to the previous period.
Using filters and sorting options, you can get answers to some other questions regarding sales. Here are some examples of the report variations:
How to See Sales by Location
You can easily see the sales data for each sale day with the data on the geographical distribution of customers.
See what provinces, cities, and countries have the most or least purchases.
How to See Customer’s Lifetime Value
It is well known that an existing customer costs less than attracting a new one for a store. Depending on the purchases each customer makes, they set their individual value for a store.
You can easily see the customer lifetime value with the CUSTOMERS CLV data column. Use it to monitor signs of shoppers' attrition in your store.
How to See Gross Margin in Percent
Gross margin is one of the parameters for business performance, which shows how much financial funds the store retains. The higher this indicator is, the more capital is available to pay for other costs.
See the gross margin in percent by activating the corresponding column.
[Orders Gross Margin, %] = ([Orders Net Sales] - [Orders COGS]) ÷ [Orders Net Sales] × 100
The result is rounded to two numbers after the comma sign. If the calculation result is negative, the report shows zero value in a table.
How to Get Details on Sales Transactions
The sales overview can be extended with the data columns on transactions. You can get such information as:
- Gateway the operation was made from
- Source name of the transaction
- Current status of the transaction
- The type of the transaction (sales, refund)
- Creation timestamp
- Transaction total amount for each sale day
How to See the Total Cost of Ordered Items
The total cost of ordered items in an order is calculated as:
[ORDER ITEMS Total Cost] = [ORDER ITEMS Quantity] × [INVENTORY ITEMS Cost]
How to See What Type of Customer Have Placed the Order
A store can have both new and recurring customers, the latter being preferable. Merchants can easily see what types of customers buy in their stores within the ORDERS Customer Type column.
In case the date of the customer’s first order is equal to the order processing date, then the customer is considered a first-time buyer. Otherwise, he or she is assigned to a Returning type. If the report cannot detect the customer ID, it will display the Unknown value.
How to Get the Total Shipping Price for a Partial Item
For each order, get the shipping price calculation:
[ORDER ITEMS Total Shipping Price] = [ORDERS Shipping Price] ÷ [ORDER FACTS Quantity] × [ORDER ITEMS Quantity]
How to Get Total Sales for Orders
Get the sum of total sales calculated as:
[ORDERS Total Sales] = [ORDERS Net Sales] + [ORDERS Shipping] + [ORDERS Tax]
The ORDERS Net Sales is obtained as:
[ORDERS Net Sales] = [ORDERS Gross Amount] - [ORDERS Discounts] - [REFUNDS Returns]
The ORDERS Shipping is obtained as:
[ORDERS Shipping] = [ORDERS Shipping amount] - [ORDER ADJUSTMENTS Total Shipping Amount]
The ORDERS Shipping is obtained as:
[ORDERS Tax] = [ORDERS Taxes] – [REFUND ITEMS Total Tax Amount]
