Highly likely pixel & CAPI aren’t setup properly.
Setup the Facebook & Instagram Sales Channel on Shopify properly.
Topic summary
A store owner is experiencing a major discrepancy where Facebook Ads reports 105 purchases while Shopify shows zero actual orders. The Pixel and events are set up, but the ‘Purchase’ event appears to be firing incorrectly.
Likely cause: Misconfigured Facebook Pixel tracking the Purchase event on wrong pages or actions rather than only on completed transactions.
Recommended troubleshooting steps:
- Verify Pixel ID is correct in Shopify Admin > Online Store > Preferences
- Check Purchase event configuration in Facebook Events Manager
- Use Facebook Pixel Helper Chrome extension to test when events fire during the checkout flow
- Set up Facebook & Instagram Sales Channel properly on Shopify
- Configure Conversion API (CAPI) alongside the Pixel
Additional concern: Running traffic campaigns instead of conversion campaigns may attract clicks without purchase intent, leading to inflated metrics.
A follow-up question asks how to track which purchases originate from Facebook Ads when the Ads Manager doesn’t show purchase attribution despite the Pixel firing correctly.