Total handling costs for orders placed by returning (repeat) customers.
| Metric | Definition |
|---|
| Handling Cost | Total handling costs including global handling fees and per-product handling fees |
| customer_type = returning_customer | Filters to customers who have placed at least one prior order |
| Metadata | |
|---|
| Type | Currency |
| Data Source | Shopify, Upstack Costs |
| Aggregation | Sum |
Example
Your store incurred $1,890 in handling costs for returning customers last month:
| Customer Type | Handling Cost | Orders | Per Order |
|---|
| Returning Customers | $1,890 | 468 | $4.04 |
| New Customers | $2,340 | 312 | $7.50 |
| Total | $4,230 | 780 | $5.42 |
How It Works
Returning Customer Handling Cost sums all handling fees from orders where the customer has made at least one previous purchase. Handling costs include both global per-order fees and per-product handling charges configured in your cost settings. Customer type is determined by whether they have prior orders in your Shopify history.
When to Use
| Scenario | Action |
|---|
| Repeat buyer profitability | Evaluate if returning customer orders remain profitable after handling costs |
| Loyalty program ROI | Factor handling costs into lifetime value calculations |
| Operational efficiency | Compare with new customers to identify if repeat buyers have lower handling overhead |
| Segment comparison | Compare with new customer handling to identify cost efficiency patterns |
| Metric | Relationship |
|---|
| Handling Cost | Parent metric including all customer types |
| New Customer Handling Cost | Counterpart for first-time buyers |
| Handling Cost Per Order | Average handling cost across all orders |
| Handling Cost % | Handling as percentage of net revenue |
| Total Fulfillment Cost | Sum of shipping, handling, and other fulfillment |
