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      Understanding Attribution Types in Unified Analytics

      Gain control over your data sources and attribution models in Unified Analytics


      Data Sources (What do you consider your source of truth?)

      To effectively analyze and understand customer behavior, Unified Analytics provides customers with the flexibility to choose their data source of truth and the attribution model type they prefer to review. This empowers users to compare and evaluate different data sources, including:

      1. Ad Platforms
      2. Web Analytics (Google Analytics or Cart Pixel)
      3. Storefronts (Shopify or Cart.com Storefronts)

      Attribution Models (What logic determines which ad campaign gets credit?)

      Within each data source, it is crucial to select the appropriate attribution lens to comprehend how customers discover your products or services. Unified Analytics offers three main attribution model types:

      1. Last Touch Attribution:
        • Source of truth: Cart.com Pixel placed on your website
        • This attribution model reveals all the channels driven by the last touch before conversion.
      2. First Touch Attribution:
        • Source of truth: Cart.com Pixel placed on your website
        • This attribution model identifies all the channels driven by the first touch that initiated the customer journey.
      3. AI Attribution Model:
        • Source of truth: Cart.com Pixel placed on your website
        • This attribution model utilizes machine learning techniques to allocate credit based on the user journey, taking into account view-through impressions, clicks, and conversions. It incorporates data from ad platforms to learn from the upper funnel influence and effect on incrementality.

       

      Additionally, Unified Analytics integrates these attribution types into a single, easy-to-filter metric in your dashboard known as "Attribution Type."

       

       

      Let's delve deeper into the definitions of each "Attribution Type":

      • Attribution AI (Cart.com): The source of truth for revenue and key performance indicators (KPIs) is derived from the Cart.com Pixel on your website. This attribution model showcases how machine learning algorithms distribute credit based on the user journey, considering ad impressions, view-through data, and conversions. It offers insights into the upper funnel influence and impact on incrementality.

      • Last Touch (Cart.com): The source of truth for revenue and KPIs is the Cart.com Pixel on your website. This attribution model provides visibility into the channels that played a role in the last touch before conversion.

      • First Touch (Cart.com): The source of truth for revenue and KPIs is the Cart.com Pixel on your website. This attribution model highlights the channels that initiated the customer journey with the first touch.

      • Google Analytics (Locked): The source of truth for revenue and KPIs is your storefront data (storefront meaning Shopify or Cart.com). Unified Analytics leverages your Google Analytics reported performance across channels, but locks it to your revenue source of truth, typically your storefront data from Shopify or Cart.com storefronts. This approach ensures accurate revenue attribution while breaking down channel and campaign proportions based on Google Analytics data. It mitigates issues caused by pixel misfires or flawed Google Analytics implementations. By default, this attribution type follows the last touch attribution model.

      • Google Analytics (Unlocked): The source of truth for revenue and KPIs is Google Analytics, either GAU or GA4 depending on your connection. Starting from July 1, 2023, it is recommended to use GA4. This attribution type follows the last touch attribution model.

      • Ad Platform: The source of truth for revenue and KPIs is your ad platforms. This attribution type does not apply any post processing specific attribution model and is reporting revenue as you would see directly logging into your ad platforms.

       

      1. Attribution Ai (Cart.com)

        1. The source of truth for all the revenue and KPIs will come from our Cart.com Pixel placed on your website.
        2. The attribution model will show you how a machine learning would allocate credit based on the user journey, view through impressions/clicks/conversions (we pull in all ad impression and view through data from your ad platforms and allow the model to learn from the upper funnel influence).

      2. Last Touch (Cart.com)

        1. The source of truth for all the revenue and KPIs will come from our Cart.com Pixel placed on your website.
        2. The attribution model will show you all the channels that were driven by last touch.

      1. First Touch (Cart.com)

        1. The source of truth for all the revenue and KPIs will come from our Cart.com Pixel placed on your website.
        2. The attribution model will show you all the channels that were driven by first touch.

      1. Google Analytics (Locked)

        1. The source of truth for total revenue and KPIs is your storefront data and channel allocation proportion is determined by Google Analytics.
          1. LOCKED: Unified Analytics leverages your Google Analytics reported performance across channels, but locks it to your revenue source of truth, typically your storefront data from Shopify or Cart.com storefronts. This approach ensures accurate revenue attribution while breaking down channel and campaign proportions based on Google Analytics data. It mitigates issues caused by pixel misfires or flawed Google Analytics implementations. By default, this attribution type follows the last touch attribution model.
        2. GA defaults to last touch attribution models.

      2. Google Analytics (Unlocked)

        1. The source of truth for all the revenue and KPIs will come from our Google Analytics (GAU or GA4 depending on what you connected.  **After July 1, 2023 you should be using GA4)
        2. GA defaults to last touch attribution models.

      1. Ad Platform

        1. The source of truth for all the revenue and KPIs will come from your ad platforms.
        2. This attribution type does not apply any post processing specific attribution model and is reporting revenue as you would see directly logging into your ad platforms.

       

       

       

      Extra Information for those interested in learning more...


      Ad Platforms = Data Siloed Decision Making
      It's important to understand how advertising platforms are reporting sales (this is what the industry refers to as reporting in "data siloes" and will lead customers to relying on platforms that will inherently double count sales across ad platforms which leads to ever ad platform reporting higher ROAS than is possible given they don't have the full picture of data to know that this one sale also came to the website from two other ad platform's campaigns.