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How to determine how much revenue a shopify store is doing?

Method 1: Using Third-Party Estimator Tools (Quickest Method)

These tools use algorithms based on web traffic, ranking data, and other signals to estimate revenue. They are a great starting point but should be treated as rough estimates.

Popular Tools:

  • Similarweb: Provides traffic estimates and can infer revenue per visitor.

  • SEMrush: Similar to Similarweb, great for traffic and keyword analysis.

  • MyIP.ms: For stores that use Shopify’s IP addresses, you can find other stores on the same IP and get a list to analyze.

  • BuiltWith: Identifies the tech stack (like Shopify) and can provide traffic data.

How to use them:

  1. Go to one of the websites above.

  2. Enter the store’s URL.

  3. Look for metrics like:

    • Monthly Visits

    • Estimated Revenue

    • Average Order Value (AOV)

    • Pages per Visit / Bounce Rate

Limitations: These tools are less accurate for newer stores, stores with a lot of direct/offline traffic, or niche markets with unusual AOVs.

Method 2: Manual Calculation (More Hands-On, Often More Accurate)

This method requires a bit more work but can yield a more reliable estimate. It involves estimating two key numbers: Monthly Traffic and Conversion Rate.

Step 1: Estimate Monthly Traffic
Use the tools from Method 1 (Similarweb, SEMrush) to get a baseline for the store’s monthly unique visitors.

Step 2: Estimate the Conversion Rate
The average conversion rate for ecommerce is typically between 1% and 3%. A well-optimized store might be higher (3-5%). A new or poorly optimized store might be lower (<1%). You can use your industry knowledge here.

Step 3: Estimate the Average Order Value (AOV)
This is the easiest part. Browse the store and look at product prices. Calculate a rough average.

  • Example: If they sell t-shirts for $30 and hoodies for $70, a reasonable AOV might be $50 – $60.

Step 4: Do the Math
The formula is simple:
Estimated Monthly Revenue = Monthly Visitors × Conversion Rate × Average Order Value

Example Calculation:

  • Store: A premium watch store.

  • Estimated Monthly Traffic: 50,000 visits

  • Estimated Conversion Rate: 2% (0.02)

  • Estimated AOV: $250

50,000 × 0.02 × $250 = $250,000 Estimated Monthly Revenue

Method 3: Advanced Traffic & Social Analysis

This involves digging deeper into the store’s marketing and customer engagement to validate your estimates.

  • Social Media Followers & Engagement: A store with 500,000 Instagram followers and high engagement likely has more revenue than one with 5,000. Look for “social proof” like user-generated content and comments on posts.

  • Email Marketing: If you can get on their email list, you can gauge the frequency of promotions and the size of their audience.

  • Google Ads Transparency: Search for the brand’s name or related keywords. If they are running many Google Ads, it indicates they have a significant marketing budget, which usually correlates with higher revenue.

  • Review Counts: Look at the number of reviews on their products (on their site or on platforms like Judge.me or Loox). If a product has 2,000 reviews, you can estimate they’ve sold many more units (as only a small percentage of customers leave reviews). A common rule of thumb is that the number of sales is 10x to 30x the number of reviews.

Method 4: Looking for Financial Clues

Sometimes, stores reveal information voluntarily or through public filings.

  • Press Releases & News: The company might announce they’ve reached a revenue milestone (e.g., “$1M in annual sales”).

  • Case Studies: Shopify and other marketing platforms often publish case studies that include specific revenue numbers for stores that agree to share them.

  • Job Postings: A store that is hiring many new roles (especially in marketing, customer service, and development) is likely growing and has the revenue to support it.

  • Public Company Filings: If the store is part of a larger, publicly-traded company, you can find exact revenue figures in their SEC filings (e.g., 10-K or 10-Q reports).

Method 5: Direct Observation (For Niche Cases)

  • “X items sold” on Product Page: Some stores display a counter (e.g., “1,234 sold”). You can track this over time to get a sense of sales velocity for specific products.

  • Limited Edition Drops: For stores that do limited product drops, watch how quickly items sell out. If 500 units sell out in 5 minutes at $100 each, that’s $10,000 in 5 minutes.

Summary: A Practical Workflow

  1. Start with a Tool: Use Similarweb or SEMrush to get a quick, automated estimate.

  2. Validate with Manual Calculation: Use the traffic data from Step 1, apply a realistic conversion rate (1.5-2.5%), and calculate an AOV based on their products. Compare this number to the tool’s estimate.

  3. Look for Corroborating Evidence: Check social media followers, review counts, and marketing activity. Do they support the idea of a store doing the revenue you estimated?

Important Disclaimer: All these methods produce estimates. The only way to know the exact revenue is to have access to the store’s Shopify Analytics dashboard. Use these techniques for competitive research, market analysis, or valuation estimates, but always treat the results as educated guesses, not absolute facts.

October 15, 2025