Signal methodology

WHAT Shipping? is a research platform built from observable ecommerce evidence. We connect public Shopify catalogue data with third-party store, traffic, ranking and advertising observations. The result is a set of directional signals—not verified merchant accounts or exact financial data.

What we observe

• Public Shopify product and catalogue information.
• Store metadata, likely markets, installed-app and ranking signals.
• Best-seller ordering and movement observed across repeated scans.
• Public advertising-library and search-ad observations.
• Cross-store product matches based on titles and product imagery.

Store verdicts and “signal-matched”

“Signal-matched” is our umbrella term for stores included in public research because observed catalogue, app-fingerprint and store signals indicate ecommerce or dropshipping relevance. It includes both verified and candidate verdicts.

A verified verdict means the observed evidence crossed our stronger dropshipper-signal threshold. A candidate verdict means the evidence is suggestive but lower confidence. Both are automated, signal-based classifications—not merchant confirmation, endorsement, or proof of a store's private fulfilment model.

How estimates are formed

Product and store rankings combine several independent observations. A stronger signal can include a durable best-seller position, movement over time, presence across multiple independent stores, sustained advertising, or corroborating store-quality indicators. Missing evidence is treated as unknown, not as zero.

Estimated traffic and sales ranges come from third-party and observed signals. They are intended for comparison and prioritisation. They are not merchant-reported results and should not be read as audited performance.

Freshness

Radar rankings materialise once each UTC day. Radar product details and prices can refresh hourly. Store and product pages may update after a live catalogue scan. Every surface can have a different latest-observation time, so the date shown on the page is part of the evidence.

What we never claim

• Exact sales, revenue, profit or advertising spend.
• That a product is guaranteed to sell or continue growing.
• That title or image similarity proves a shared supplier.
• That an observed signal confirms the merchant's private operations.

Corrections and removal

Store owners can ask us to review inaccurate public-source information or remove a store from public discovery. See our data and removal policy for the process.