Differences in Unattributed Data

• Why is this happening?
• Is there an issue with setup or tracking?
• How can I fix this?

These are all valid questions! We’ll unpack the answers in the guide below.

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How Does Northbeam Attribute Data?

Before getting into Unattributed data, it’s important to understand how we Attribute. To properly attribute data, our system relies on two pieces of data for every event.

1. Server Data - This is the raw data that we receive from your internal system.
2. Pixel Data - This is data collected through our tracking pixels placed on your website (Northbeam Pixel and Purchase Events)

Reference the table below to learn how Server Data and Pixel Data is collected by Northbeam. If we have Server Data and Pixel Data for a particular Purchase or Email Sign Up, our system attributes the conversion accordingly. If we have Server Data, but do not have Pixel Data, we’ll pull the order/event into your dashboard, but it will be categorized as “Unattributed”.

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What Causes Unattributed Data?

With this in mind, Unattributed data is caused by missing pixel data. But, Unattributed data does not always indicate a tracking/setup issue. There are many types of orders that simply don’t fire web tracking pixels by nature. Therefore, missing pixel data, or Unattributed, is oftentimes expected. These are normally orders that are not completed through your store’s online checkout: Common examples:

• Manually created orders (ex. Draft Orders, Wholesale Orders, Orders by Sales Rep)
• Orders imported or completed from another marketplace or app (ex. Tapcart, Shop App)
• Orders placed from a 3rd party checkout or marketplace (ex. ClickFunnels, Walmart, etc)
• Orders placed through a native shopping experience
  • Meta Shops and TikTok Shops are an exception. We track orders through these shopping experiences.
• Subscription Recurring Orders that started prior to Northbeam

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How To Find Your Unattributed Orders

Great! Now that you understand the definition and causes of Unattributed, here’s how to find the specific Unattributed Orders in your dashboard. This should help you troubleshoot and determine if they’re expected.

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Step 1: Navigate to Orders Page

To find the Orders Page, click the Shopping Cart Icon on the left-side menu. Our Orders Page is a great tool for troubleshooting orders. This is where we display all orders we received from your system — whether they’re from Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, or a Custom Setup.

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Step 2: Set Filters

Scroll down to the table and set the following filter:

• Attributed = No

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Step 3: Export Data

Usually, the easiest way to look at the data is to export it — especially, if there’s high volume. Click Export Data and navigate to the Documents page to download.

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Step 4: Analyze the Data

Once downloaded, you’ll find lots of information for each order.

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For Shopify Stores

If you’re on Shopify, you’re in luck. This process is usually somewhat straight forward. Unattributed orders are normally from a Sales Channel that is different from “Online Store”. This can vary from Draft Orders, to Grin Orders, or even Draft Orders. We’ve rolled out an update that pulls the Order’s “App ID” into an Order Tag. The App ID correlates with a specific Sales Channel from Shopify. See mapping below. This should help you determine if your Unattributed Orders are expected or not. For any orders from a Sales Channel where Pixel Tracking is unexpected, Unattributed is normal to see. Please exclude these orders via Order Tag. Find directions in next step.

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For WooCommerce, Magento, Custom Stores

Unfortunately, we do not pull sales channels details from these platforms like we do for Shopify Stores. Please cross reference the Unattributed orders in Northbeam to your internal order system and try to identify what could be preventing the pixel from firing. Here are a few ideas on what to look into and try to draw correlations from:

• Orders from a unique checkout flow
• Orders with a unique payment method
• Orders from another marketplace
• Orders from a unique sales channel

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Addressing Unattributed Orders

Okay, great. Now that you’ve identified your Unattributed orders, we have two paths forward depending on whether the Unattributed is expected or not expected.

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Option 1: Placing Order Tags and Excluding

Any orders where unattributed is expected need to be excluded from your dashboard. This way, these orders won’t interfere with the rest of your orders. In addition, this is very important for your data integrity and data validation — an mandatory step of the onboarding process.

Platform	How to add Order Tags
Shopify	- Creating Order Tags (Shopify Documentation) Creating Order Tags via Flows (Shopify Documentation)
WooCommerce, Magento, Custom	Tags are to be passed via API, using the “order_tags” field. API Docs here.

Once Order Tags are appended, we can now exclude these orders from your dashboard. To find your order exclusions:

1. Navigate to Settings
2. Click on Exclude orders by tag

Enter your tag name and be sure to Activate. Once the orders are “Excluded”, they’ll be grouped into an “Excluded” Category and need to be filtered out of your specific view.

1. Use the Filter function on the Overview or Sales Page
2. Filter out “Excluded”
3. Save it as a New View

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Option 2: Troubleshooting the Purchase Pixel

If your Unattributed data is not expected, it’s very likely that your Purchase Pixel isn’t firing correctly, if at all. Learn more about our Purchase Pixel.

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Need additional help?

If you need further assistance, reach out to Support!