> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Total Shipping Revenue, Adobe Commerce > Total Shipping Revenue for Adobe Commerce stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Supporting Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Ecommerce Platform](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > The absolute customer-paid shipping revenue collected over the period: `SUM(shipping_amount)` over orders. Pairs with [Shipping Cost as % of Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/shipping-cost-as-of-revenue) (the rate version) and with [Free vs Paid Shipping](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/free-vs-paid-shipping) (the composition view). | | | | ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `SUM(shipping_amount)` over orders created in the 30-day window. `shipping_amount` is the post-discount, excl-tax shipping the customer paid (after free-shipping coupons or threshold-based discounts). | | **API field** | `shipping_amount` (post-discount, excl-tax), `shipping_discount_amount`, `shipping_tax_amount`, `base_shipping_amount` from `GET /rest/V1/orders`. | | **VAT / tax treatment** | **Excl-tax** by default. Adobe Commerce stores the shipping VAT separately as `shipping_tax_amount`. For UK/EU merchants, the customer's invoice line "Shipping inc. VAT" equals `shipping_amount + shipping_tax_amount`. Both are exposed; the headline uses the excl-tax view to mirror Finance accounting practice. | | **Shipping** | The card IS the shipping view. | | **Discounts** | Already deducted, this is post-discount paid shipping. The free-shipping discount portion is in `shipping_discount_amount` (positive number representing the discount applied). The pre-discount listed shipping is `shipping_amount + shipping_discount_amount`. | | **Cancelled orders** | Excluded by default. Cancelled orders typically have `shipping_amount=0` anyway, but the explicit exclusion ensures cleanliness. | | **Refunds** | Not subtracted, the card is creation-time. Refunded shipping (Credit Memo with `shipping_amount > 0`) reduces net but appears separately on [Refund Value](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/refund-value). Net shipping = this card − Credit Memo shipping. | | **Currency** | Mixed-currency display by default. `base_shipping_amount` for FX-neutral. | | **Channels / sources** | All Adobe Commerce sources. B2B orders that use freight (LTL, FTL) charged outside Adobe (invoiced separately) do not appear here. | | **Multi-store scope** | All Store Views by default. | | **Time window** | `30D` rolling. | | **Alert trigger** | None on this card directly. The rate-side alert is on [Shipping Cost as % of Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/shipping-cost-as-of-revenue). | | **Roles** | owner, operations | ## Calculation ``` SUM(shipping_amount) WHERE date BETWEEN [period_start, period_end] ``` ## Worked example A B2B+DTC homewares merchant on Adobe Commerce 2.4.7. UK base, GBP. 4,820 orders. Period: 14 Apr 26 to 13 May 26. **Shipping aggregates:** | Component | Value (GBP) | | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | | `SUM(shipping_amount)` (card default, excl-tax, post-discount) | £58,400 | | `SUM(shipping_discount_amount)` | £14,200 | | Pre-discount listed shipping | £72,600 | | `SUM(shipping_tax_amount)` | £11,680 | | `SUM(shipping_amount + shipping_tax_amount)` (incl-tax) | £70,080 | **Per-method breakdown** (joined with `payment.method` for shipping-method via `shipping_description`): | Shipping method | Order count | `SUM(shipping_amount)` | Avg per order | | ----------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------------------- | --------------------------------- | | Royal Mail Tracked 48 (UK standard) | 2,840 | £25,560 | £9.00 | | Royal Mail Special Delivery | 380 | £11,400 | £30.00 | | DHL Express (international) | 220 | £8,800 | £40.00 | | ParcelForce 24 | 410 | £6,150 | £15.00 | | Free shipping (>£75 threshold) | 920 | £0 | £0.00 | | Free shipping (loyalty perk) | 50 | £0 | £0.00 | | **Total** | **4,820** | **£58,400** | **avg paid £15** (excluding free) | **Comparison to prior period:** | Window | `SUM(shipping_amount)` | Order count | Avg per non-free order | | ------------------- | ---------------------- | ----------- | ---------------------- | | 14 Apr to 13 May 26 | £58,400 | 4,820 | £15.00 | | 15 Mar to 13 Apr 26 | £52,200 | 4,640 | £13.50 | | **Change** | **+11.9%** | **+3.9%** | **+11.1%** | What this is telling Operations: 1. **Shipping revenue grew 11.9% on order growth of only 3.9%.** The per-order paid shipping rose from £13.50 to £15.00. Cause likely a carrier rate increase (Royal Mail and DHL both raised in late Mar 26). 2. **Free-shipping share is 970 of 4,820 orders, 20.1%.** Healthy threshold-driven free-ship rate. £14,200 of free-ship discounts absorbed (the merchant "spent" £14,200 to chase the threshold-driven AOV lift). 3. **DHL Express at £40/order** is the highest per-order. Mostly international orders; investigate whether the carrier mark-up is passing through fully or being absorbed. 4. **Royal Mail Special Delivery at £30/order** is the second-highest. Used for high-AOV (>£100) DTC where customers opt for next-day. Consider raising threshold given the rate increase. 5. **Cross-link with [`shipstation.shipping_cost`](/nerve-centre/shipstation/shipping_cost):** carrier-paid £52,800 in the period. Net shipping revenue = collected £58,400 − paid £52,800 = £5,600 surplus. With £14,200 of absorbed free-ship discount, the *net economic position* on shipping is `+£5,600 − £14,200 = -£8,600`, i.e. shipping is a loss-leader for AOV. That is a deliberate strategy if AOV uplift covers it; verify with [AOV](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/average-order-value) and the lift attribution. 6. **Action:** consider raising free-ship threshold to £85 to recover £4-6k/month if AOV elasticity supports it. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair it with Total Shipping | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | [Shipping % of Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/shipping-cost-as-of-revenue) | Rate-side companion. | | [Free vs Paid Shipping](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/free-vs-paid-shipping) | Composition: how much of the order base avoided shipping fees. | | [Total Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/total-revenue) | Denominator-of-context. | | [AOV](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/average-order-value) | Free-ship thresholds drive AOV; pair to measure threshold effectiveness. | | [Total Discount](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/total-discount-used) | Includes shipping discount portion. | | [Refund Value](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/refund-value) | Refunded shipping reduces net; this card is creation-time gross. | | [`shipstation.shipping_cost`](/nerve-centre/shipstation/shipping_cost) | Carrier-side cost; the merchant-paid figure for true margin. | | [`shopify.total_shipping`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-shipping-revenue) | Shopify peer. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in Adobe Commerce Admin:** > **Reports > Sales > Shipping** with date range matching the period. Total at the bottom should match this card. Default uses `base_currency`; switch this card to `base_shipping_amount` for like-for-like. For per-method breakdown: > **Reports > Sales > Shipping** with "Show By" = "Shipping Method". Shows shipping revenue per carrier/service. **Why our number may legitimately differ from Adobe Commerce Admin:** | Reason | Direction of divergence | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | | **Currency**. Admin defaults to `base_shipping_amount`; this card defaults to display-currency mixed `shipping_amount`. | Material for multi-currency stores | | **Reports indexer lag**. Reports > Sales > Shipping uses nightly aggregated tables. This card refreshes every 5-15 min. | Vortex IQ ahead by \~12-24h on most-recent day | | **Cancelled inclusion**. Card excludes cancelled by default; Admin reports include or exclude depending on status filter. Cancelled orders typically have `shipping_amount=0` so the impact is small. | Minor | | **Status filter**. Admin reports default to "Status = Any". Match unless overridden. | None expected | | **Time-zone, sync lag**. Standard. | Minor | **Cross-connector reconciliation (when these connectors are connected for this merchant):** | Card | Expected relationship | What divergence tells you | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`shipstation.shipping_cost`](/nerve-centre/shipstation/shipping_cost) | Carrier-paid cost. Merchant collected (this card) − carrier paid = gross shipping margin (before considering free-ship absorption) | If carrier-paid > collected, shipping is a cost centre; renegotiate or raise rates. | | [`easypost.shipping_cost`](/nerve-centre/easypost/shipping_cost) | EasyPost equivalent if used | Same logic. | | Sum of (Royal Mail postage + DHL bill + …) | Should approximately match ShipStation total | Reconciles carrier integration vs invoices. | ***
Documentation cross-reference (for agencies running multiple platforms) * [`shopify.total_shipping`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-shipping-revenue) * [`bigcommerce.total_shipping`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/total-shipping-revenue)
## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Why is my "shipping revenue" number lower than the customer-facing total on invoices?** Because Adobe stores shipping excl-tax in `shipping_amount` and the tax separately in `shipping_tax_amount`. Customer invoices show the inc-tax sum. Add them for the customer-facing figure: `SUM(shipping_amount + shipping_tax_amount)`. The card's headline excl-tax view aligns with how Finance books shipping revenue (net) in the GL. **Free shipping is hurting my number, can I separate it?** Free shipping isn't "hurting" the number; it just doesn't contribute. The pre-discount listed shipping (`shipping_amount + shipping_discount_amount`) shows what shipping would have been without promos. The discount portion is the cost of the free-ship strategy. **Refunded shipping, where is it?** On Credit Memos as `creditmemo.shipping_amount`. Aggregate via [Refund Value](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/adobe-commerce/refund-value). Net shipping = this card − refunded shipping. The card is intentionally creation-time gross because Finance books the refund separately. **B2B freight orders aren't showing, why?** Many B2B sellers charge freight outside the platform (carrier invoices the merchant after shipment, merchant invoices the customer separately). Those orders have `shipping_amount=0` in Adobe. To capture them, integrate the freight invoicing system (e.g., a 3PL connector) and combine. **My multi-currency total looks weird, why?** Mixed-currency `shipping_amount` is summed without FX. A USD store contributing \$5,000 and a GBP store contributing £4,000 sums to "9,000" with no unit. Toggle to `base_shipping_amount` (FX-converted to store base currency at order time) for a meaningful total. **Why doesn't ShipStation match?** ShipStation knows what you paid carriers (cost). This card knows what customers paid you (revenue). Both are correct at their endpoint. The interesting calculation is cost − revenue = margin (positive = you are profitable on shipping; negative = you are absorbing shipping cost as marketing). **My free-ship threshold is £50; I see lots of orders just under £50, why?** That is healthy. Free-ship thresholds intentionally pull AOV up via the "I might as well add another item" psychology. The cluster just under £50 is customers who decided not to add. The cluster just over £50 is the threshold-driven AOV lift. Together they suggest the threshold is calibrated to your AOV distribution. **A spike in shipping revenue over the weekend, real or admin-bulk?** Adobe Admin can create bulk orders manually (B2B PO imports). Those have `created_at = bulk-import time` even if real customer orders were over weekdays. Filter `admin_created` orders for the true customer-paid signal. **Can I see this by Customer Group?** Yes. Slice via Customer Group filter. B2B groups often have negotiated freight outside Adobe (so look low here); DTC groups carry the bulk of card-paid shipping. **Why does today's number sometimes drop?** Today's data is in-progress; the card might display "(in progress)" on the trailing point. Otherwise: a cancellation just occurred and the card excludes cancelled orders, so the cancelled order's shipping is removed retroactively. This is correct. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Total Shipping Revenue* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Adobe Commerce and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.