How Shopify Plus Merchants Can Maximize Duty Drawback Recovery

For Shopify Plus merchants operating at scale, import duties represent a substantial cost center that often goes unoptimized.

With the average Shopify Plus merchant importing between $2–15 million in merchandise annually, the duty drawback opportunity typically ranges from $85,000 to $675,000 in recoverable funds over the five-year lookback period.

Despite familiarity with duty mitigation strategies, comprehensive duty drawback recovery remains underutilized: only 8.7% of eligible enterprise eCommerce businesses fully leverage their opportunities, leaving hundreds of thousands—sometimes millions—of dollars unclaimed.

Complex operations spanning multiple suppliers, omnichannel distribution, international customers, and high return rates create challenges—but also significantly increase recovery potential.

For Shopify Plus merchants, several factors amplify the opportunity compared to smaller operations:

Average import volumes between $2–15 million translate to duty payments of $85,000 to $675,000 per year depending on product categories.

Omnichannel distribution across D2C sites, wholesale, marketplaces, and international distributors increases tracking complexity but multiplies recovery avenues.

Established Shopify Plus merchants average 15–28% international revenue versus 8–12% for standard stores, meaning more shipments qualify for drawback.

Enterprise operations often run dedicated destruction protocols for unsellable returns, unlocking destruction drawback opportunities.

Enterprise eCommerce operations can leverage multiple drawback claim types:

Shipping imported products directly to international customers without modification qualifies for refunds on duties paid.

Example: A fashion retailer importing from Asia recovered $237,000 over three years from international D2C sales.

Exporting products commercially interchangeable with imported items opens recovery even if they are not the exact same units.

Example: A home goods company matched exports against any import of the same SKU, increasing recovery by 43%.

Imported components used in products that are later exported qualify for duty refunds.

Example: A beauty brand importing packaging components and ingredients recovered $192,000 on exports to distribution partners.

Returned, damaged, or unsellable merchandise destroyed under customs supervision allows duties to be recovered.

Example: An apparel company with a 12% return rate captured $86,000 annually via destruction documentation protocols.

Enterprise operations can implement several strategies to maximize duty recovery:

Capture D2C international sales, marketplace exports, wholesale distribution, and 3PL fulfillment shipments to ensure every channel feeds the drawback dataset.

Implementation example: A home decor brand broadened export tracking across channels and grew recoverable amounts by 67%.

Use accelerated payment, statistical sampling, and annual reconciliation to speed refunds for consistent import/export patterns.

Results: A footwear company reduced recovery timelines from 6–8 months to 4–6 weeks.

Implement customs-supervised destruction, verifiable custody chains, and return category tracking to unlock drawback on unsellable returns.

Case study: A luxury accessories brand recovered $143,000 in the first year while improving sustainability metrics.

Audit classifications, prioritize high-duty products, and seek binding rulings to improve eligibility and accuracy.

Impact: A sporting goods retailer corrected 23% misclassified products and added $117,000 in recovery over five years.

Robust systems integration is essential to capture enterprise-scale drawback opportunities:

Connect inventory systems for lot tracking, FIFO documentation, and API-driven data syncing.

Technology case study: A home goods brand integrated NetSuite with drawback software, cutting prep time by 87% and finding missed opportunities.

Automate export documentation, harmonize product data, and capture proof of delivery across carriers.

Data shows integrated shipping and drawback systems recover 28% more than manual processes.

Multi-entity structures introduce both challenges and opportunities:

Acquisitions or reorganizations require documenting successor rights within three years of importation to recover predecessor duties.

Use drawback sharing agreements, centralized documentation, and export allocation strategies to consolidate claims across entities.

Results: A merchant operating three entities increased recovery by 62% after consolidating its approach.

Decide whether to build internal capabilities or partner with specialists based on cost, expertise, and timelines:

Requires dedicated customs staff ($85k–$120k annually), specialized software ($30k–$75k), ongoing training (~$15k), and 6–9 months to stand up processes—typically viable only when annual recovery exceeds $500k.

Contingency fees remove upfront cost, provide immediate expert access, leverage purpose-built technology, and limit client time to roughly 4–6 hours per quarter—delivering superior ROI for most merchants.

Enterprise implementations typically follow this cadence:

Based on enterprise programs:

To evaluate and implement a duty drawback strategy:

Duty drawbacks remain one of the most significant yet underutilized financial opportunities for Shopify Plus merchants, often reaching six or seven figures over the lookback period.

To implement a comprehensive strategy tailored to your operation, contact Evana for a confidential assessment of your recovery potential.