How do I tell whether Facebook, Instagram, Google or TikTok generated a sale?
Combine platform pixels (plus Conversions API) with consistent UTM tagging and check Shopify Analytics' sessions attributed to orders. Last-click attribution will credit the final touchpoint, not the whole journey — and iOS privacy limits mean paid-social data is always approximate. Use the numbers directionally, not as gospel.
The short version of why this is hard: a customer often discovers you on TikTok, researches on Google, and clicks a retargeting ad on Instagram before buying. Last-click attribution credits Instagram with all of it. That's useful but incomplete, so treat every attribution number as an approximation.
Start with the foundation. Install each platform's pixel on your store (Meta pixel for Facebook/Instagram, TikTok pixel, Google tag). Where possible, add server-side tracking too — Meta's Conversions API and TikTok's Events API send purchase events from your server, which catches conversions that browser blockers and iOS privacy restrictions drop. Server-side events typically recover a meaningful chunk of the conversions that pixels miss.
Next, tag every outbound link with UTMs. This is the part most small stores skip, and it's free. Your bio link, story swipe-ups, ad creatives, and influencer links should all carry utm_source, utm_medium, and utm_campaign parameters. A link without UTMs shows up as "direct" traffic in analytics — the most common reason merchants can't tell which platform worked.
Then read Shopify Analytics' "sessions attributed to orders" reports. Shopify shows you which marketing source was associated with converting sessions over a 30-day attribution window. Compare that against the platforms' own Ads Managers, knowing each platform takes credit optimistically — Meta will happily claim a sale that TikTok also claims.
Finally, adjust for privacy limits. Since iOS 14.5 (ATT opt-outs), paid social underreports conversions, especially on shorter attribution windows. Practical fixes: lengthen your attribution windows in Ads Manager comparisons, use the platforms' modeled/estimated conversion features, and sanity-check with lift tests — pause a channel for a week and see if total revenue actually drops.
A concrete workflow:
- Give every link a unique UTM; never reuse the same one across platforms.
- Install pixels and Conversions/Events APIs; verify events fire on a test purchase.
- Weekly: pull attributed revenue per source from Shopify, compare with each platform's reported conversions.
- Monthly: run a one-week channel pause test for the channel you suspect is weakest.
GetNoCut doesn't do this. It's a post-purchase upsell app, not an attribution tool — it can't tell you whether Facebook or TikTok generated a sale, and it doesn't replace Shopify Analytics or the platform pixels. For attribution you want a pixels/analytics app category and disciplined UTM tagging, as described above. GetNoCut's only number is the upsell revenue it added after the sale already happened.