The Business
A Shopify apparel store selling around $28,000/month, with a return rate the owner considered "normal for clothing" and never broke down further than a single blended percentage.
The Problem
The store's blended return rate was 18%. Not unusual for apparel. But treating it as one flat number hid the real issue: 3 specific SKUs (all from one supplier with inconsistent sizing) accounted for nearly half of all returns, while the rest of the catalog returned at a healthy 9-10%.
What They Changed
- Broke return rate down by SKU instead of looking at the store-wide average
- Identified the 3 problem SKUs and pulled them from the supplier's sizing chart entirely, replacing it with the store's own measured sizing guide
- Added size-specific product photos to the 3 SKUs' listings
- Began reviewing return rate by SKU monthly instead of only checking the overall number
The Result
Return-driven losses (restocking cost, return shipping, and lost margin on unsellable returned units) dropped 40% within 60 days. Almost entirely from fixing 3 SKUs out of a catalog of over 80.
The blended average was hiding a very fixable, very concentrated problem. See How to Track Sales Properly for why per-SKU visibility matters more than store-wide averages.
Could This Apply to Your Business?
- Do you track return rate by SKU, or only as one blended store-wide number?
- Could a handful of problem products be hiding inside an otherwise average return rate?
- Would you know within a week if one supplier's sizing started driving unusual returns?
FAQ
Wasn't an 18% return rate just normal for an apparel store?
It's not unusual for the category, but treating it as one flat number hid that 3 specific SKUs from a single supplier accounted for nearly half of all returns.
What actually fixed the problem?
Pulling the 3 problem SKUs from the supplier's sizing chart, replacing it with the store's own measured sizing guide, and adding size-specific product photos.
How is this relevant to a store without an obvious return problem?
It shows why reviewing return rate by SKU monthly, rather than only checking the store-wide average, catches concentrated problems that a blended number conceals.
Read the Guides Behind This Story
- How to Track Sales Properly. the guide behind this story
- Sales KPIs Every Business Should Monitor. the guide behind this story
- Sales Dashboard Guide. the guide behind this story