Cost of goods is the single most important input in Shopshot. Shopify knows what you sold and for how much; it does not know what each item cost you. The COGS tab is where you tell it, and until it is complete, every margin and profit figure is only an estimate.
[Screenshot placeholder] The COGS tab showing the product list with a cost per SKU and a "missing cost" indicator on some rows
Set a cost for every SKU
Set a cost for each product or variant. Shopshot uses these costs everywhere profit appears: the Products page, the Orders waterfall, and the Profit & Loss statement.
Where COGS shows up | What it drives |
Products | Gross Profit, Gross Margin, Net Profit, the Scale/Hold/Fix action |
Orders | The COGS line in each order's waterfall |
Profit & Loss | Order-level Costs, and therefore Gross Profit and Net Profit |
Costs are snapshotted at order time
When an order comes in, Shopshot records the product cost that is true at that moment and attaches it to the order permanently. If you update a cost later, past orders keep the cost that applied when they happened, so historical margins do not silently change. Only future orders pick up the new cost. This is what keeps closed months from restating. See How Shopshot calculates profit.
Costs move in real life
Most apps assume one cost per SKU forever. Shopshot supports the way costs actually change: across time, across order size, and straight from your product setup into the shipping waterfall. For products sold as sets or in tiers, see COGS: bundles and quantity-based costs.
Fill in missing costs
Any SKU without a cost has incomplete margin, and Shopshot flags it so you can see exactly what is left to enter. Until costs are complete, treat store-wide margin as partial, and expect some Profit Leak cards to show MEDIUM confidence.
[Screenshot placeholder] The list filtered to products missing a cost, with the count of incomplete SKUs
Common questions
I updated a cost. Why did last month's profit not change? Because costs are snapshotted at order time, so closed periods stay stable.
What happens to margin if I never enter a cost? That SKU's margin stays incomplete and is flagged. Shopshot never assumes a cost, so it will not guess zero or full cost.
Can I set different costs for the same product over time? Yes. New costs apply going forward and are snapshotted onto new orders; past orders keep their original cost.
Do I have to enter costs one by one? No. You can import them in bulk. See Import COGS via CSV.
Next step
The fastest way to complete COGS is a bulk import. Download the template, fill it, and upload. → Import COGS via CSV
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