Sales Attributed to Marketing Report - Numbers Change Over Time

Start a Business

Topic summary

Issue: Quarterly figures in Shopify’s Sales Attributed to Marketing report changed slightly when revisiting a prior quarter (Q3 2022) while compiling Q4 results. The question is whether to wait longer after quarter-end because attribution windows might shift numbers.

Key detail: Shopify uses a 30‑day attribution “lookback window” (the period during which a conversion can be credited back to an earlier visit). If a conversion happens after the report is run but the user first visited within the prior 30 days, earlier-period metrics can update.

Implication: Pulling reports on the first workday after quarter-end may lead to small subsequent adjustments. Waiting until the 30-day window has elapsed post-quarter should yield more stable, final attribution numbers.

Additional note: One participant mentioned December holidays/vacations may slightly affect outcomes, though this was anecdotal and not tied to a specific mechanism.

Status: Explanation provided (30-day lookback) that accounts for the discrepancies. No formal decision, but the practical takeaway is to time reporting to accommodate the attribution window or expect minor revisions.

Summarized with AI on February 2. AI used: gpt-5.
1

I was recently doing our quarterly reporting and was using the Sales Attributed to Marketing Report to pull data on number of orders and revenue attributed to certain channels. As I was pulling this info for 2022 Q4, I also checked the 2022 Q3 numbers and noticed that the dollar amount in revenue was slightly different than what I had noted in the report when I pulled it the previous quarter. It wasn’t a huge monetary difference but there was still a difference nonetheless.

I usually pull our end of quarter reports the first working day after the previous quarter ends. Do I need to wait longer to get more accurate numbers when considering attribution windows could be longer after the end of the quarter? Would this cause some of the numbers change a while after I initially pulled the report?

2

In December, there are so many festive holidays & Christmas vacation may impact it slightly. I’ve noticed it for a long time.

3

Hey @kellysandberg

Shopify’s lookback window for attribution is 30 days. That means that if a conversion happened the day after you run your report, but the first visit from that customer happened 30 days ago, your report data might change.