Enable Web Pixel

Why this matters

Without the Web Pixel, every sale that comes through an affiliate's referral link is invisible to the app — affiliates don't get credited, you can't see which traffic sources convert, and no commissions are calculated. Connecting the pixel takes under a minute and is the single most important step after installing Avada Affiliate Marketing.

What the Web Pixel does behind the scenes

When someone clicks a link like yourstore.com/?affily_ref=AFF-ABC123, the pixel:

1. Reads the affily_ref parameter from the URL.
2. Generates an anonymous visitor ID and stores it in a browser cookie (default 30 days).
3. Sends a click event to Avada with the visitor ID, referral code, and page metadata.
4. When the visitor completes checkout, fires a checkout event with the order's checkout token.
5. Backend matches the token to the stored click → creates a Conversion → credits the affiliate.

Before you start

• Your store was created after October 2023 (older stores use Script Tag, which Avada installs automatically with no extra action needed — you can skip this page).
• You have Manage apps permission in Shopify admin.
• You have already installed Avada Affiliate Marketing from the Shopify App Store. If not, see Install the App first.

Setup

Step 1 — Open Settings

In your Shopify admin sidebar, click Settings (bottom-left gear icon).

Step 2 — Open Customer events

In the Settings sidebar, click Customer events. You will see a list of pixels installed by apps you have on your store.

Step 3 — Verify the Avada pixel is Connected

Find the row labelled Avada Affiliate Marketing. The Status column should read Connected and the Data column should read Optimized.

For most stores this happens automatically when you install the app — there is no manual Connect button to click. If the row already shows Connected / Optimized, you are done. Skip to Verify tracking works below.

If the row is missing or shows Disconnected, the simplest fix is to uninstall and reinstall the app from the Shopify App Store. Reinstalling re-registers the pixel via the Shopify Web Pixels API. If that does not resolve it, contact [email protected].

Verify tracking works

The fastest way to confirm is a self-click test:

1. In Avada Affiliate Marketing, go to Affiliates, click any approved affiliate, and copy their Referral link.
2. Open a fresh incognito / private window and paste the link.
3. Browse your store, add any product to cart, and complete a test checkout — use Shopify's test mode or a real card with a small refund afterwards.
4. Wait 1–3 minutes.
5. In the app, open the Conversions page. A new row should appear in Pending status with the correct affiliate, order total, and commission.

If nothing appears after 5 minutes, jump to Troubleshooting below.

How attribution actually works

Understanding the matching logic saves hours of debugging later.

Time windows

What	How long	Why it matters
Cookie lifetime	30 days (default, editable in Settings → Tracking → Referral tracking duration)	Visitor must check out within this window for the click to count.
Click deduplication	24 hours	If the same visitor clicks the same affiliate's link twice in 24 hours, only one click is recorded. Normal for re-visits — not a bug.
Tracking data TTL	7 days server-side	Click records are auto-deleted after 7 days to control storage. A checkout 8+ days after the click cannot be matched.
Email fallback window	1 hour	If the checkout token doesn't match (rare Shopify edge case), the app falls back to matching by customer email — but only if the email was captured within 1 hour of checkout.

Matching priority

On every new order, the app runs this chain:

1. Primary — match the order's checkoutToken to a stored click. This works for most orders.
2. Fallback — if no token match, match by customerEmail within the 1-hour window.
3. Coupon-code match — if no pixel match, check whether the order used an affiliate's coupon code. Coupon matches work with or without the pixel.
4. No match — the order is not attributed. No commission is created.

Last-click attribution

If a visitor clicks two different affiliates' links within 24 hours, only the most recent click is credited when they eventually buy. This is standard last-click attribution.

Known limitations

• Cross-device — a visitor who clicks on desktop and buys on mobile will not be attributed. The cookie lives on one device only.
• Incognito / private mode — cookies are cleared when the window closes. If the visitor doesn't complete checkout in the same session, the click is lost.
• Cookie blockers — extensions like uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, or Brave's shields block the pixel cookie. Affiliates who expect high tech-savvy audiences should also share a coupon code.
• Coupon overrides link — if the order uses an affiliate's coupon code, the coupon wins even if the visitor clicked a different affiliate's link. This prevents double-paying.
• Inactive affiliates — if an affiliate is Inactive (i.e. you disapproved them while Pending), any orders from their links will not create conversions. Reactivating an Inactive affiliate is not supported in the merchant UI today; if the click was legitimate, ask them to register again.

Troubleshooting

Pixel shows Connected but no conversions appear:

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Self-click test produces 0 conversions	Test window was not incognito — your browser already had a checkout session	Repeat in a fresh incognito window
Conversion appears but commission is $0	Order used a $0 discount code, or order value is below the program's minimum	Check Program settings → Commission rules
Conversion for affiliate A but you clicked affiliate B's link	Visitor had a prior click from A within 24h (last-click rule)	Clear cookies before testing
"Connected" status but pixel not firing on storefront	Theme is using a custom checkout that bypasses Shopify events	Install the Theme App Extension
Conversion missing even after 10+ minutes	Click was more than 7 days ago → tracking record expired	Expected behaviour. Ask affiliate to re-share the link.
Some orders attribute, others don't	Customer email changed between cart and checkout → fallback match failed	No fix on the merchant side. Most orders still match via the checkout token.
Conversions page is completely empty	Affiliate is in Pending or Rejected status	Approve the affiliate in the Affiliates page

Still stuck? See Resources → Troubleshooting or contact support from the app's top-right help menu.

Data & privacy

The pixel records only what is strictly needed for attribution and analytics:

• Anonymous visitor ID — random string, cookie-based, no personal identifier.
• Referral code — the affily_ref value from the URL.
• Click metadata — page URL, referrer, user agent, screen dimensions, language. Used for your admin analytics only.
• Checkout token — temporary Shopify identifier, used once to match the order.
• Customer email — captured only at checkout, used solely as a fallback match and deleted after 7 days.

No names, addresses, or payment details are stored. See Resources → Privacy Policy for full disclosure.

Next step

Tracking is live. Install the optional Theme App Extension for edge-case coverage, then head to Quick Start to create your first program and recruit affiliates.