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Analytics Reference

Returns by Product Type

Rank product types by return volume to guide inventory and merchandising decisions.

The Returns by Product Type chart aggregates every return up to the Shopify product type field — the same value you see on each product in Shopify admin. It’s a coarser view than product risk, but it’s the right level of detail when you’re thinking about merchandising or inventory decisions.

The chart

A horizontal bar chart, sorted by descending return count. Each bar shows:

  • The product type name (from Shopify).
  • Total returns in the selected period.
  • Return rate (returns / orders) as a small percentage label.
  • Risk-zone breakdown as a stacked color split inside the bar.

Volume vs. rate

The default sort is by volume (count), which is what you want when answering “where are my returns coming from in absolute terms?” Toggle to rate (return % per orders) when you’re asking “which product types are over-indexed on returns relative to how much we sell?”

The two questions have different answers:

  • By volume: usually dominated by your bestsellers. Doesn’t mean those products are problematic — they just sell a lot.
  • By rate: surfaces the underdogs with disproportionate return problems. This is the more actionable view.

Drill-down

Click any bar to filter the dashboard to that product type. From there you can open the Reason × product heatmap filtered to the same type to see why the type has the return rate it does.

Common findings

  • Apparel > everything else — Apparel return rates are structurally 15-30%. Shoes are even worse. This is normal; don’t panic.
  • One small type with a sky-high rate — Often a single problematic SKU dragging the entire type up. Drill in and check.
  • Furniture / oversized items — Low volume but disproportionate dollar exposure. Worth holding to a stricter manual-review standard than apparel.

Caveat: depends on Shopify product types being clean

This chart is only as good as your Shopify product type taxonomy. If half your products have type = "" or use inconsistent values (“T-Shirt” vs “Tshirt” vs “tee”), the chart will too. The fix is in Shopify admin, not RefundSentry. Spending an hour cleaning your product types up-front pays back forever.

Next steps