Shopify profit by market report for cross border sales

Plenty of the stores we look after sell into several countries. Ask which of those markets makes money and the answer is often a pause. Revenue by country is easy to find. Profit by country usually lives in a spreadsheet someone updates when they have time.

Shopify has closed some of that gap. Two new reports show profit margin by market and by order, taking in customer order costs and fulfilment costs. You can see which markets pay their way, then drill into the orders that drag a market down. For cross border sellers, that turns a quarterly spreadsheet into a report you can open any day.

What did Shopify add?

On the 22nd of October 2025 Shopify announced new reporting for cross border sales profitability. There are two reports.

• Average profit margin by market. It lets you analyse profitability per market, including customer order costs and fulfilment costs.
• Profit margin by order. You reach it by drilling down from a specific market, and it shows profitability for individual orders.

To find them, go to Analytics, then Reporting, in your admin. Search for Average profit margin by market.

Who should open these reports?

Anyone running more than one market on Shopify. It matters most in three situations.

• You opened a new market recently and want to know if it's working.
• You offer free or subsidised international shipping and suspect some countries cost more than they earn.
• You're deciding where to spend next, whether that's ads, translation or local stock.

Are you a UK brand selling into Europe, or a European business selling across borders? Then bring this report to your next planning meeting. Our Europe page describes the kind of cross border stores we work on.

Before you trust the numbers

A profit report is only as good as the costs behind it. Before anyone makes a decision from it, check the inputs.

1. Product costs. Make sure your products have their costs recorded in Shopify, including new lines and variants.
2. Shipping. Compare what you charge customers with what the carrier charges you, market by market.
3. Discounts. Check which promotions ran in each market during the period.
4. Returns. International returns can be expensive. Know how they show up in your reporting.
5. Time range. Pick a period long enough to smooth out one big order or a quiet month.

Gaps in cost data don't only make a market look worse. They can make it look better than it is. A missing cost on a best seller hides a real problem.

How to read profit by market

Start wide, then narrow down.

Sort markets by margin and look at the bottom three. For each one, open Profit margin by order and look for patterns. Are the weak orders small baskets? Do they cluster around one product? Are they all shipped to remote areas?

Most problems fall into a few groups we see again and again.

• Small orders where fulfilment costs swallow the margin.
• Free shipping thresholds set for the home market, not the destination.
• Heavy or bulky products that cost far more to send abroad.
• Discounts designed for one market running everywhere.

Each has a practical fix. A different free shipping threshold, a minimum order for some countries, or a product excluded from a market. Change one thing, then check the same report a month later.

Customs data plays a part too. If duties are calculated from the wrong classification, your landed cost is wrong. We covered the new country specific HS codes on Shopify a few weeks ago. Stock is the other lever, because what each market can buy depends on where your inventory sits. We look at that in our note on inventory by market.

Make it a monthly habit

A report you open once teaches you something. A report you open every month changes how you run the store.

We'd suggest a simple routine. Once a month, look at margin by market alongside revenue by market. Note any market whose margin moved. Pick one change to test. Write down what you changed, so next month's review has context.

That rhythm is exactly what ongoing support should cover. Someone needs to read the numbers, not only fix what's broken. Our note on what ongoing Shopify support should include goes into how we structure that.

Where parallel helps

We look after live Shopify stores every month, and cross border setups are a big part of that. We'll check your cost data, set up the reports, and help you act on what they show. That might mean shipping rules, market settings or product exclusions. See our Shopify support packages.

If you sell abroad and aren't sure which markets are paying for themselves, book a call and we'll look at the numbers with you.