Attribution & Analytics
Should Shipping Revenue Count Toward ROAS?
Whether shipping charged to the customer belongs in ROAS depends on what you want the revenue figure to represent. The most important thing is consistency.
Gross order value can include shipping
If the advertising platform receives the Shopify order total including shipping, platform ROAS may use that value.
But shipping is not product margin
A $10 shipping charge may simply reimburse an $8 carrier cost. Counting the $10 as valuable revenue without the cost can make profitability look slightly better than it is.
For contribution analysis, separate it
Use:
Product revenue
- shipping collected
- product cost
- actual shipping cost/subsidy
- payment/fulfilment
= contribution before ads.
Keep channel comparisons aligned
Do not send shipping-inclusive values to one platform and shipping-exclusive values to another if you expect ROAS to be comparable.
For platform optimization, consistent purchase value is useful. For profit, treat shipping revenue together with shipping cost rather than as free margin.
Not sure if ROAS is telling the full story?
If Meta, Google and Shopify are using different definitions of purchase value, send us an inquiry. We can standardize the measurement.