Every return has double cost: you lose the outbound fulfillment, pay the return logistics, and the product margin is destroyed. With high return rates, NCM can turn negative even if all other numbers look good.
Shopify: Orders, filter by "Refunded" or "Cancelled" for the month, divided by total orders for the month. Tiendanube: "Devoluciones" report under Estadísticas.
A 25% return rate with 15% NCM can eliminate more than 40% of effective margin depending on reverse logistics cost. Categories like fashion and electronics can have returns up to 30%.
| Status | Range |
|---|---|
| Healthy | < 8% for accessories/home · < 15% for fashion |
| Alert | 8–18% depending on category |
| Critical | > 25% in any category |
"Not what I expected" returns are reduced with better product information: size charts, multi-angle photos, product-in-use video. This investment has direct ROI in reduced reverse logistics.
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