Shopify app ROI calculator
Does your bundle, upsell or free-gift app really pay for itself? Enter what the app costs and how its orders compare with your regular orders over the last 30 days. You'll see the extra profit it brought in, its net gain and its ROI, with a clear keep-or-cancel verdict.
How the calculator works
The calculator only gives an app credit for the part of each order that is bigger than your regular orders, because that's the part the app can claim. Then it turns those extra sales into profit and takes off everything the app costs:
Extra sales = (Average order with the app − Regular average order) × Orders with the app
Extra profit = Extra sales × Your margin
App cost = Monthly price + % fee × (Orders × Average order with the app) + Free gifts' cost
Net gain = Extra profit − App cost
ROI = Net gain ÷ App cost
With the example numbers already filled in: (€51.00 − €42.00) × 96 orders = €864.00 of extra sales. At a 40% margin that's €345.60 of extra profit. Take off the €49.00 app and the net gain is +€296.60, an ROI of 296.60 ÷ 49.00 = +605%. This app clearly pays for itself.
The verdict: an ROI above +10% pays for itself, between −10% and +10% it roughly breaks even, and below −10% it loses money. When it loses money, the calculator shows how much cancelling it would save you each month.
Why "revenue influenced" isn't profit
Almost every sales app has a dashboard number like "revenue influenced", "revenue generated" or "sales from bundles". It adds up the full value of every order the app touched. In the example above that's 96 × €51.00 = €4,896, more than 14 times the real extra profit of €345.60. Three things make the gap:
- Most of those orders would have happened anyway. A shopper who adds a bundle was usually going to buy something. Only the part above your regular order is the app's doing.
- Revenue isn't profit. A €9 bigger order at a 40% margin is €3.60 of profit, not €9.
- The cost is left out. The app's price, its % fee and any free gifts it hands out all come out of that profit.
So an app can report thousands in influenced revenue and still lose you money. If its orders are no bigger than your regular ones, or even smaller, every euro you pay for it is a loss.
How sure can you be?
This is a fair estimate, not a lab test. Shoppers who add bundles may simply be bigger spenders, and with only 10 or 20 orders one large order can swing the result. Check the numbers over more than one period, for example 30 and 60 days, and if an app looks good but you're unsure, pause it for a few weeks and see whether your average order really drops. Our guide to calculating the ROI of your Shopify apps goes through this step by step, including how to find each app's orders in a Shopify export.
FAQ
What is a good ROI for a Shopify app?
Anything above 0% means the app pays for itself. Many store owners want at least +100%, so the app earns back its cost twice, to leave room for the uncertainty in the numbers.
Is "revenue influenced" the same as an app's return?
No. Revenue influenced adds up whole orders the app touched, including sales you would have made anyway. The real return is the extra profit from orders being bigger than your regular orders, minus what the app costs.
What counts as my regular average order?
The average order value of orders that didn't use this app or any other sales app, over the same period. In Shopify you can export your orders as a CSV and average the totals of the orders without an app's discount code, tag or note.
How many orders do I need to judge an app?
There is no fixed number, but results based on a handful of orders swing a lot. As a rule of thumb, wait for a few dozen orders with the app, and check that the result points the same way over 30 and 60 days.
How do I count an app that takes a percentage of sales?
Enter the percentage in the fee field. The calculator charges it on all sales the app touched (its orders × its average order), because that is usually how these apps bill, and adds it to the monthly price and the cost of any free gifts.
Check all your sales apps at once
Shoply: Apps ROI Tracker finds every sales app in your store, compares their orders with your regular orders and shows each app's extra profit, cost and ROI over 7, 30 and 60 days, with a keep, review or cancel check-up. It only reads your data and never changes your store.
See Apps ROI Tracker Read the ROI guide