Automating Weekly Sales Reports from Shopify: Integrating n8n, Google Sheets, and ChatGPT for Efficient E-commerce Reporting

Imagine having your Shopify sales data gathered, organized, and summarized for you every week — without lifting a finger. That’s what this automation unlocks. Instead of crunching numbers or copy-pasting data every week, you get an insight-packed report right in your inbox (or wherever you want it). Let’s break down how you can automate this, what tools you need, and how each piece fits together so you can skip the busywork and focus on what matters for your business.

Why Automate This

Every e-commerce business thrives (or struggles) based on the insights they derive from sales data. But let’s be honest: pulling weekly sales, segmenting numbers by date, adding up totals, and making sense of the trends is a slog. If you’re juggling product launches, customer emails, and inventory issues, the last thing you want is to spend hours just preparing reports.

This is where automation shines. By connecting Shopify with workflow automation tools like n8n, organizing data in Google Sheets, and using ChatGPT to pull out meaningful takeaways, you can:

Save hours every week, reduce errors, and make better business decisions based on up-to-date, neatly summarized data. Plus, you get notifications and insights pushed where you want them — whether that’s your inbox, Slack, or even a weekly SMS reminder.

Step-by-Step Setup

Let’s lay out the process. We’ll start by extracting your sales data from Shopify, move it into Google Sheets for easy access and calculations, use ChatGPT (or an AI service) to turn raw numbers into understandable summaries, and finally send the finished report straight to you on a set schedule. Here’s how each step works:

Connecting to Shopify and Pulling Sales Data

The first step is getting your real order and sales data out of Shopify automatically, without logging in or exporting CSVs.

How it works: You’ll use the Shopify API. Shopify’s API is essentially a way for apps and tools to talk to your store’s database for you. With n8n, you can set up a workflow that ‘asks’ Shopify for all orders from the previous week. This usually uses endpoints like /orders.json and lets you filter by date.

What the workflow looks like: In n8n, you drag out a Shopify node, configure it with your API details, and set it to fetch orders updated or created in the last 7 days. Here’s a sample of what you might get back:

{
  "orders": [
    {
      "id": 123456789,
      "created_at": "2025-01-01T12:34:56-05:00",
      "total_price": "120.00",
      "currency": "USD",
      "line_items": [
        { "title": "T-Shirt", "quantity": 2, "price": "30.00" }
      ],
      "discount_codes": [
        { "code": "NEWYEAR", "amount": "10.00" }
      ],
      "total_tax": "5.00"
    }
    // ...more orders
  ]
}

Customizing it: You can change the time window (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly), pull different fields, or filter for just completed orders. If you have lots of orders, the API sometimes paginates results, but n8n can handle fetching multiple pages automatically.

Transforming and Organizing Data with n8n

The raw data straight from Shopify can be a bit messy — for instance, you might want just certain fields, totals, or to ignore test orders. Here, n8n’s built-in tools help clean things up.

How it works: Use n8n’s Function/Set nodes to reformat data: sum up totals, pull out line item details, or standardize currency and date formats. This can also be where you pivot the structure to fit well in a spreadsheet.

What the workflow looks like: After fetching data, add a Function node. For example, you might sum all total_price values for the week:

{
  "total_sales": 2450.00,
  "orders_count": 37,
  "best_selling_product": "T-Shirt",
  "highest_discount": "20.00"
}

Customizing it: Add logic to ignore orders marked as test/draft, break out sales by product, or tag customers using regex/lookup lists — it’s super flexible in n8n.

Loading Data into Google Sheets

Once your sales data is cleaned up, you need it in an easy-to-view format. Google Sheets is perfect: familiar, flexible, easy to share, and (unlike Excel files sent over email) instantly up-to-date for your whole team.

How it works: n8n connects Google Sheets as a node and writes the sales summary or full order list to a target worksheet (for instance, your “Weekly Sales” sheet). You can append new rows or update a summary area.

What the workflow looks like: The output from the previous Function node pushes into Google Sheets columns:

{
  "Date": "2025-01-08",
  "Orders": 37,
  "Gross Sales": 2450.00,
  "Discounts": 80.00,
  "Taxes": 120.00
}

Customizing it: Build charts off these columns, compare week-over-week trends, or add more calculated fields (e.g., average order value) right in Google Sheets.

Summarizing Insights with ChatGPT

While a spreadsheet gives you numbers, what if you want to instantly know “What happened this week?” Here’s where ChatGPT (or another LLM) turns your rows and columns into actionable takeaways in plain English, saving you interpretation time.

How it works: Connect n8n to ChatGPT via the OpenAI node or plugin. Pass either the table contents or your JSON summary, and prompt ChatGPT to “summarize key trends, anomalies, and high-level takeaways.” ChatGPT returns a paragraph you can drop into your email, your Slack, or your Notion dashboard.

What the workflow looks like: The request to ChatGPT might look like:

{
  "orders_count": 37,
  "total_sales": 2450.00,
  "best_selling_product": "T-Shirt",
  "discounts": 80.00,
  "prompt": "Summarize the trends and key highlights for these weekly Shopify sales."
}

The result could be:

This week, you saw a 15% increase in orders, with T-Shirts driving most growth. Discounts redeemed were lower than the previous week. No large refunds were recorded.

Customizing it: Change the prompt to focus on growth/declines, inventory risks, or customizable “what should I look out for?” summary questions. You can even have ChatGPT recommend next steps (“Restock T-Shirts!” or “Run another promo code?”) based on sales.

Sending the Report Automatically (Email, Slack, etc.)

Once you have both the spreadsheet and your AI-crafted summary, the last step is sending this out like clockwork every week, with zero manual effort.

How it works: Use n8n’s nodes to schedule the entire workflow for a day/time (e.g., every Monday 8AM). Then, combine the Google Sheet and ChatGPT-generated summary into an email body, a Slack message, or another preferred channel.

What the workflow looks like: A final email message payload could look like this:

{
  "to": "owner@yourstore.com",
  "subject": "Weekly Shopify Sales Report",
  "body": "Hi,\n\nHere’s your shop’s performance for the past week:\n\nTotal sales: $2,450\nOrders: 37\nTop product: T-Shirt\n\nAI Insight: This week, you saw a 15% increase in orders...\n\nSee full details in your attached Google Sheet."
}

Customizing it: Adjust timing, recipients, include Excel/CSV exports, or send quick updates via Telegram or SMS. With n8n’s flexibility, you can easily add more outputs (like posting to a private Discord channel, or updating a Notion doc) as your needs grow.

Real Example

Let’s walk through what this looks like for “The Cozy Corner,” a fictional Shopify store specializing in custom mugs. Every week, the owner used to log into Shopify, export all orders, paste numbers into Google Sheets, and spend an hour figuring out what sold best and what needs restocking.

After setting up this automation:

Each Monday morning, the store owner gets an email and a Slack message — both with a neat summary: “Congratulations! You sold 23 mugs this week for $675 — a big jump from last week. Best seller: ‘Cozy Cat’ mug. You’re nearly sold out of ‘Winter Fox.’ Discounts usage dropped, suggesting customers are buying at full price.” The owner’s weekly sales worksheet in Google Sheets is automatically updated, with charts showing trends, and there’s a dashboard tab for product-level stats. The owner can quickly identify which items need reordering and whether recent promotions made a difference, all before the first coffee is finished.

Tools You’ll Need

Here’s what powers the automation (no coding required):

Shopify API: Where your sales data lives. You’ll set up secure access credentials.

n8n (pronounced “N-N”): The workflow automation tool that glues everything together and runs on autopilot.

Google Sheets: The easy, collaborative spreadsheet for storing, charting, and analyzing sales data.

ChatGPT (or similar LLM API): Your AI assistant that translates numbers into clear English insights.

Related Articles

If you found this helpful, you might also enjoy:

Automating Shopify with n8n Integrations – The official n8n guide for e-commerce workflows.

Shopify API Documentation – How to find (and use) all the data endpoints.

Google Sheets Functions for Reporting – Learn to create charts, sums, and more.

OpenAI API Docs – For customizing ChatGPT responses in automations.

Final Thoughts

Automating Shopify sales reporting isn’t just about saving time — it’s about unlocking instant business clarity. With this simple workflow, you don’t just collect data: you see what’s working, what needs attention, and where you’re growing. Once set up, this system scales with your store, adapts easily, and frees up brainpower for more creative, strategic work — the stuff that moves your business forward. Try it out, tweak it to your unique needs, and never dread another reporting Monday again.