What is the difference between gross and net sales?

Through Metorik, you'll see both the terms Gross Sales and Net Sales used a lot. There's a difference between the two and it's important to understand the difference in order to get the most out of the data.

Gross sales is simply the total amount of money received. If a customer made an order with a total of $80, the gross sales for that order are just that - $80. Even if the order ended up being refunded or there were shipping and other fees (that made up that $80), the gross sales is still $80.

Net sales/revenue is the total after the refunds, fees and shipping have been taken out. It ends up being a more accurate representation of the actual money you have from sales, while gross sales represents the initial money you've received.

More about net sales/revenue in the help doc: All about net revenue and the orders report.

Of course, it's likely that you and other store owners have a different idea of what defines net sales, and rather than make that choice for you, Metorik allows you to customise how net sales is calculated. You can do this from your store's settings:

You can deduct the following from gross sales to determine net sales:

• Taxes
• Shipping
• Fees

By default, we will deduct all of these.

Refunds are always deducted from gross sales to give you net sales.