Beginners Guide to Attribution Tools For E-commerce
What is attribution in e commerce?
In a nutshell ‘attribution’ is about understanding which channels are most efficient at driving revenue for your business. It involves keeping tabs on all the ads someone has seen, clicked, or tapped, as well as noting every website visit and the related campaigns or keywords that brought them there. It combines this information using ‘attribution models’ which each assign importance to the various channels based on when they took place.
There are now dozens of options for attribution tracking, all taking a different approach and it can be pretty overwhelming trying to figure out which tool to use.
Image Source : Segmentsream
Here is our roundup of the most common and popular attribution tools
Triplewhale
Triple Whale is a relative newcomer to eCommerce analytics designed specifically for direct-to-consumer Shopify brands. Launched in 2021 following the release of iOS-14, Triple Whale aims to offer real-time, precise financial reporting, marketing analytics, and customer data for eCommerce businesses.
With Triple Whale, you gain access to essential eCommerce metrics such as customer acquisition costs, lifetime value, contribution margin, return on ad spend, and more. The standout feature of Triple Whale is its ability to centralize all your eCommerce data in one user-friendly platform. This eliminates the need for multiple spreadsheets or various Shopify apps, streamlining the process of understanding your eCommerce business performance.
Pros:
All-in-One Dashboard: A unified, customizable dashboard displays essential metrics from all integrated software.
Automated Data Retrieval: The software automatically fetches data from integrated platforms, offering valuable insights without manual input.
User-Friendly Configuration: Advanced configurations don't require coding knowledge, making it accessible to users with varying technical expertise.
Versatile Dashboard Placement: Dashboards can be easily placed on other platforms and websites for convenient accessibility.
Advanced Reporting and Predictive Analytics: Provides sophisticated reporting and predictive analytics features to enhance decision-making.
Enhanced Attribution Features: Outperforms popular advertising platforms in terms of attribution capabilities.
Cons:
Beta Stage: Being relatively new, the software is still in the beta stage, potentially leading to some stability concerns.
Missing Features: Inventory Management and Customer Segmentation features are not yet available, limiting comprehensive business management.
Shopify Platform Exclusive: Currently, the tool is only compatible with the Shopify platform, limiting its usability for businesses on other e-commerce platforms.
No Retention Data: Lack of retention data functionality, potentially limiting insights into customer loyalty and retention strategies.
Limited Product Analytics: The software provides restricted analytics on product performance, limiting in-depth product insights.
Acquisition Strategy Cost: Introduces an additional cost to your acquisition strategy, which may impact overall budget considerations.
Segmentation Depth: Limited depth in segmentation across various metrics may restrict detailed analysis for certain aspects of your business.
No Subscription Analytics: The absence of subscription analytics features may be a drawback for businesses heavily reliant on subscription-based models.
Northbeam:
Northbeam stands out as a robust eCommerce analytics platform offering features like pixel tracking, advanced machine learning, real-time data processing, and multi-touch attribution. Boasting a client portfolio that includes well-known brands like Kizik, HexClad, and The Ridge, Northbeam claims to deliver an impressive average revenue boost of 44% for its users.
Pros:
Advanced Machine Learning: Leverages advanced machine learning capabilities for enhanced analytics and insights.
Comprehensive Attribution Insights: Offers in-depth attribution insights, allowing users to identify revenue sources across all channels.
Seamless Integrations: Facilitates smooth integration with other tools and platforms for a cohesive user experience.
Efficient Data Handling: Excels in processing real-time data efficiently, contributing to accurate and timely insights.
Free Trial and Paid Plans: Provides flexibility with a free trial option and various paid plans to cater to different business needs.
Live Data Insights: Delivers real-time insights, enabling users to make informed decisions promptly.
Future Insights and Alerts: Offers insights into future trends and provides alerts for proactive decision-making.
Cons:
Support Issues: Recent changes have resulted in reduced support for clients with a monthly spend of up to $1,000, affecting onboarding and integration assistance.
Complexity for New Users: The extensive features may pose challenges for newcomers, who might find the platform overwhelming, especially considering the limited support for guidance.
Fospha:
Fospha software engages with and comprehends customer behavior, offering real-time insights throughout every user journey. By utilizing data science and artificial intelligence, Fospha helps businesses enhance engagement with their audiences, striking a balance between customer acquisition cost and customer lifetime value.
Fospha claims to measures all clicks and impressions, providing valuable information to guide strategic investment decisions for profitable growth.
Pros:
Accurate Source Attribution: identifies the true source of each purchase or sign-up, offering insights into effective marketing channels.
Smooth Integration Process: The integration process is seamless and user-friendly, minimizing potential hassles.
Dashboard Feedback: tailor your dashboard for a more personalized experience.
Efficient Customer Service: Provides efficient customer service to address queries and concerns promptly.
Comprehensive Marketing Visualization: Visualizes all marketing channel data in a centralized dashboard, facilitating a holistic view.
Cons:
Limited Date Range Function: Restrictions in the date range function and limited customization options for dashboards.
User Number Limits: Limits on user numbers per business can be restrictive when attempting to share data insights across the broader business.
Lack of Real-Time Analysis: The absence of real-time analysis capabilities may hinder the ability to make immediate data-driven decisions.
No Customer Activity Tracking: The software lacks features for tracking customer activity, potentially limiting insights into user behavior.
No API and Third-Party Integrations: Currently, there is no support for API and third-party integrations, limiting connectivity with other tools and platforms.
RulerAnalytics:
Ruler is a marketing attribution tool that uniquely follows the entire customer journey at the visitor level, employing a first-party approach. It captures detailed information, including marketing source, page views, UTM variables, Click IDs, and Cookie IDs for each session.
Ruler breaks away from conventional attribution models by tracking first-party cookie click-path data and utilizing statistical machine-learning impression modeling. This approach proves advantageous for brand awareness campaigns with minimal clicks, and its independence from cookies ensures future resilience without relying on third-party cookies.
Pros:
Proactive Support: Users commend Ruler Analytics for providing proactive and helpful support, particularly during the onboarding process.
Improved Attribution Accuracy: Many reviewers express that Ruler Analytics has significantly enhanced their attribution accuracy, providing more reliable insights.
Powerful Tracking Capabilities: Ruler Analytics receives praise for its robust online and offline tracking capabilities, contributing to comprehensive data collection.
Cons:
Slow Dashboard Performance: Some users report sluggishness in the Dashboard UI, especially when managing a large volume of leads, affecting overall user experience.
Limited Reporting Features: While acceptable for many users, some express the need to export data to their CRM and Google Data Studio for more extensive and customizable reports.
Lack of Date Range Comparison: Users highlight the absence of a date range @bcomparison feature within the interface as a drawback, making it challenging to track performance improvements over specific time periods.
Elevar:
Specializing in powering conversion tracking for direct-to-consumer brands on Shopify and Shopify Plus, Elevar is tailored for those who rely on precise data for strategic decision-making. The platform achieves this by leveraging cutting-edge tracking methodologies, particularly through server-side tracking.
Pros:
User-Friendly Interface: Elevar boasts a user-friendly interface, ensuring accessibility and ease of use for a diverse range of users.
Customization and Real-Time Previews: Offers customization options and real-time previews of events, providing flexibility and immediate visibility into tracking configurations.
Exceptional Support Team: The support team receives commendation for their exceptional assistance and prompt problem-solving, contributing to a positive user experience.
Cons:
Complex Setup: Users may find the initial setup process to be complex and time-consuming, requiring a dedicated effort to navigate.
Funnels Feature Complexity: The setup for the funnels feature can be challenging to grasp, lacking sufficient tooltips for guidance, potentially leading to confusion during the configuration process.
Wicked Reports:
Wicked Reports emerges as a comprehensive multi-touch marketing attribution software, crafted by data experts to provide essential insights into all paid marketing activities, conveniently consolidated in one platform.
The Wicked Reports Attribution Time Machine offers flexibility with infinite lookback and look forward windows. Conversions and revenue attribution seamlessly link to actual OrderIDs from sales, enhancing transparency and accuracy.
Full funnel marketing attribution, if aligned with your business model, can be a transformative element.
Pros:
Data Tracking: Users praise Wicked Reports for enabling detailed tracking of each customer's journey, from the initial touchpoint to the final purchase.
Data Visualization: The software's capability to integrate data from various sources and present a holistic view of marketing spend performance is highly valued by users.
Attribution Models: Users appreciate the availability of multiple attribution models, enhancing data accuracy. Wicked Reports allows users to assess the impact of their ads using diverse attribution models, providing a deeper understanding of marketing performance.
Cons:
Outdated UI: Some users express concerns about an outdated user interface, suggesting a need for a significant update to enhance the user experience.
Challenging Onboarding: Despite ample documentation, certain users find onboarding onto Wicked Reports and navigating its features to be challenging.
Data Processing Issues: Reports of data processing issues leading to slow loading times and limitations on certain columns due to API constraints have been reported by users. These challenges may pose difficulties in automation.
ClickMagick:
ClickMagick serves as the go-to platform where you can effortlessly view your actual results, along with all the essential stats and KPIs, conveniently consolidated in one place.
Pros:
Easy Conversion Tracking: ClickMagick simplifies conversion tracking, making it user-friendly and accessible for users seeking accurate insights into their results.
Retargeting Pixels on Any Link: Users can seamlessly add retargeting pixels to any link, enhancing the ability to reconnect with their audience effectively.
Multi-Mode Link Rotators: ClickMagick offers versatile link rotators, allowing users to customize link distribution based on their specific needs.
Click Fraud Monitoring & Traffic Quality Analysis: Users benefit from click fraud monitoring and traffic quality analysis features, providing insights into the authenticity and effectiveness of their traffic.
Dynamic Affiliate Links and Link Cloaking: The platform supports dynamic affiliate links and efficient link cloaking, ensuring a streamlined and secure affiliate marketing experience.
Automatic 'Bot' Filtering: ClickMagick incorporates automatic 'bot' filtering, enhancing the accuracy of data by filtering out automated bot traffic.
Cons:
Limited Customer Support for Basic Accounts: Basic account users may experience limitations in customer support, potentially impacting their ability to seek assistance when needed.
Pricing and Refund Concerns: Some users have expressed dissatisfaction with pricing and refund policies, indicating potential challenges or issues in these areas.
Complicated Editing Features: Certain editing features are criticized for being overly complicated and clunky, potentially creating challenges for users seeking a more straightforward editing experience.
Google Analytics 4 Attribution:
Attribution questions can also be answered by a standard Google Analytics set-up -without the need for a paid tool. Google Analytics 4 allows you to select your attribution model and then apply this across all of your data.
Google Analytics 4 employs Attribution Models, which can be based on a single rule, a set of defined rules, or an algorithm. These models determine which touchpoints should receive credit for conversions. As a result, different models may yield varied results for the same conversion path, considering both multiple touchpoints and diverse conversion order possibilities for each user.
The adoption of a specific attribution model simplifies the understanding of credited sources for conversions, aligning with the business model and other relevant factors.
Pros:
Data Dashboard: Offers a comprehensive data dashboard for easy tracking and analysis of performance metrics.
Direct Integration with Google Ads: Connects directly to Google Ads, ensuring seamless coordination between analytics and advertising efforts.
Data Export Capability: Allows the export of data, facilitating external analysis and reporting.
Reliable Post-Click and Post-View Insights: Provides reliable and detailed insights into post-click and post-view installs or acquisitions, aiding in understanding user behaviour.
Customer Journey Insights: Offers valuable insights into the customer journey, enhancing comprehension of user interactions.
Identification of Demographics/Personas: Determines broader trends, such as the demographics and personas of conversions, refining the definition of target audiences.
Cons:
Limited Customer Service Support: Lacks actual customer service agents for direct assistance and answering queries.
Need for Better Explanation of Data Points: Requires better explanations for each data point to enhance user understanding.
Enhanced User-Friendly Interface: Users suggest improvements in the interface and overall user experience for increased usability.
Bot Issues: Faces challenges related to bot problems, potentially affecting the accuracy of data.
Complexity in Custom Reports: Creating custom reports may require expertise, posing a challenge for users with varying needs.
It’s owned by Google - who have a vested interest in over-valuing their own marketing channels.
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KnoCommerce:
Rather than taking a tracking approach to attribution - KnoCommerce allows you to actually ask your customers where they heard about you. Their survey tool is tailored for E-commerce merchants, offering the capability to gather zero-party data directly from customers and convert it into increased revenue.
The tool serves dual purposes: collecting essential data and fostering engagements that drive revenue, making KnoCommerce a robust solution for E-commerce businesses. It features dynamic promo code creation, enabling post-survey actions like referral incentives or discounts. Moreover, all survey questions and answers seamlessly integrate with Klaviyo, allowing for customized segments and automations.
KnoCommerce provides flexibility in survey complexity, accommodating various field types such as rankings, dates, and drop-downs to collect specific data and answers. It also offers different action events, ensuring targeted follow-up actions based on customer responses, such as verifying social media engagement.
Pros:
Effective Post-Purchase Surveys: KnoCommerce excels in providing an effective solution for post-purchase surveys, enabling businesses to gather valuable insights from customers.
Easy Installation and Setup: The app offers a straightforward installation and setup process, ensuring a hassle-free onboarding experience.
Customer Journey Details: Users gain insightful details into the customer journey, allowing for a deeper understanding of customer behavior and preferences.
Responsive Customer Support: The tool provides excellent customer support with a fast response rate, ensuring users receive timely assistance when needed.
Multiple-Form Questions: KnoCommerce allows the addition of multiple-form questions within a survey, providing flexibility and customization options.
Cons:
Potentially Expensive for Shopify Beginners: Some users may find the pricing plans of KnoCommerce to be on the higher side, which could be a consideration for Shopify beginners with budget constraints.
Based on reported data from customers - who have unreliable memories and won’t always fill out your survey.
