Purpose
Evaluates the true return on investment for each discount code and automatic discount by measuring revenue generated, number of orders, average order value with vs. without discount, customer acquisition attributed to discounts, and whether discounted orders cannibalized full-price sales. Goes beyond discount-hygiene-cleanup (which finds broken/unused codes) to answer "was this discount worth it?" Read-only — no mutations.
Prerequisites
- Authenticated Shopify CLI session:
shopify store auth --store <domain> --scopes read_orders,read_discounts - API scopes:
read_orders,read_discounts
Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| store | string | yes | — | Store domain |
| days_back | integer | no | 90 | Lookback window |
| min_uses | integer | no | 3 | Minimum uses for a discount to be analyzed |
| format | string | no | human | Output format: human or json |
Safety
ℹ️ Read-only skill — no mutations are executed. Safe to run at any time.
Workflow Steps
OPERATION:
discountNodes— query Inputs:first: 250, select discount details (title, code, type, value, usageCount, startsAt, endsAt), pagination cursor Expected output: All discount codes and automatic discountsFilter to discounts with
usageCount >= min_usesand active within lookback windowOPERATION:
orders— query Inputs:query: "created_at:>='<NOW - days_back days>' discount_code:<code>",first: 250for each active discount code, selecttotalPriceSet,totalDiscountsSet,subtotalPriceSet,customer { id, numberOfOrders }, pagination cursor Expected output: All orders using each discountAlso query orders WITHOUT any discount in same period for baseline AOV comparison
For each discount, calculate:
- Total Discount Cost = Σ(totalDiscountsSet for orders with this code)
- Revenue Generated = Σ(totalPriceSet for orders with this code)
- Discounted AOV = revenue / orders
- Baseline AOV = AOV of non-discounted orders in same period
- AOV Lift/Drop = discounted AOV - baseline AOV
- New Customer % = orders where customer.numberOfOrders == 1 / total
- Gross ROI = (revenue - discount_cost) / discount_cost × 100
- Cannibalization Risk = high if discount AOV < baseline AOV and new customer % < 20%
GraphQL Operations
# discountNodes:query — validated against api_version 2025-01
query AllDiscounts($after: String) {
discountNodes(first: 250, after: $after) {
edges {
node {
id
discount {
... on DiscountCodeBasic {
title
codes(first: 1) { edges { node { code } } }
usageLimit
asyncUsageCount
startsAt
endsAt
customerGets {
value {
... on DiscountPercentage { percentage }
... on DiscountAmount { amount { amount currencyCode } }
}
}
}
... on DiscountCodeFreeShipping {
title
codes(first: 1) { edges { node { code } } }
asyncUsageCount
startsAt
endsAt
}
... on DiscountAutomaticBasic {
title
asyncUsageCount
startsAt
endsAt
customerGets {
value {
... on DiscountPercentage { percentage }
... on DiscountAmount { amount { amount currencyCode } }
}
}
}
}
}
}
pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor }
}
}
# orders:query — validated against api_version 2025-01
query OrdersByDiscount($query: String!, $after: String) {
orders(first: 250, after: $after, query: $query) {
edges {
node {
id
name
createdAt
totalPriceSet { shopMoney { amount currencyCode } }
totalDiscountsSet { shopMoney { amount currencyCode } }
subtotalPriceSet { shopMoney { amount currencyCode } }
customer {
id
numberOfOrders
}
discountCodes
}
}
pageInfo { hasNextPage endCursor }
}
}
Session Tracking
Claude MUST emit the following output at each stage. This is mandatory.
On start, emit:
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ SKILL: Discount ROI Calculator ║
║ Store: <store domain> ║
║ Started: <YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM UTC> ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝
After each step, emit:
[N/TOTAL] <QUERY|MUTATION> <OperationName>
→ Params: <brief summary of key inputs>
→ Result: <count or outcome>
On completion, emit:
For format: human (default):
══════════════════════════════════════════════
DISCOUNT ROI REPORT (<days_back> days)
Discounts analyzed: <n>
Total discount spend: $<amount>
Total attributed rev: $<amount>
─────────────────────────────
TOP PERFORMERS (by ROI):
"<code>" ROI: <n>% Revenue: $<n> Cost: $<n> New customers: <pct>%
UNDERPERFORMERS:
"<code>" ROI: <n>% Revenue: $<n> Cost: $<n> ⚠️ Cannibalization risk
BASELINE COMPARISON:
Non-discount AOV: $<n> | Avg discount AOV: $<n> | Δ: $<n>
Output: discount_roi_<date>.csv
══════════════════════════════════════════════
Output Format
CSV file discount_roi_<YYYY-MM-DD>.csv with columns:
discount_id, code_or_title, type, uses, revenue, discount_cost, roi_pct, aov, baseline_aov, aov_delta, new_customer_pct, cannibalization_risk
Error Handling
| Error | Cause | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
THROTTLED |
API rate limit exceeded | Wait 2 seconds, retry up to 3 times |
| Automatic discounts | No code to query by | Match via order discount data |
| Stacked discounts | Multiple codes per order | Attribute proportionally or flag as "multi-discount" |
Best Practices
- Discounts with ROI < 100% cost more than they generate — consider retiring them.
- High new-customer % with positive ROI = great acquisition tool — keep running.
- Low new-customer % with negative AOV lift = cannibalization — customers would have bought anyway.
- Cross-reference with
discount-ab-analysisfor split-test insights. - Use with
discount-hygiene-cleanupto find and remove underperforming codes.