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Implementing Tracking Pixels

ChannelAdvisor Digital Marketing provides ROI reporting of online search, comparison shopping engine and Social Media campaigns. Reporting is available at the channel level (Paid search, Natural search, and Comparison Shopping Engines, Social Media), campaign level, category level, keyword level and by SKU.   

Clients can configure their ChannelAdvisor accounts to use either of our tracking types.  Tracking pixels are required for both tracking types.  Contact support to set your account tracking configuration.

  • Parametrized:  Which appends our tracking IDs as a URL parameter on your Product URLs.
  • Redirect:  We store your URLs on our server and replace them in data feeds with a link to our servers.  When a buyer clicks a link, our servers set a cookie and redirect them to your product URLs.

There are some sites that only support parametrized tracking.  If your account is configured for redirect tracking, we will automatically use parametrized tracking for any sites that require it.

Prerequisites

Video

Implementing Tracking Pixels - This video describes what tracking pixels are, why they are important and outlines the differences between the various tracking pixels. View Transcript 

Tasks to Complete

Tracking pixels must be installed on various pages of your website to capture traffic, order and event data. The pixels are JavaScript code and are very similar to others you may already have on your site. For active campaigns, once the pixel is installed you should expect to see reporting in ChannelAdvisor within 24 hours. Below are specific instructions for installing each type of pixel as well as links to view examples and additional information.  

View the video above and then complete the tasks below:

  • Visit Pixel (Required)   - This pixel captures inbound visit information.
  • Order Tracking Pixel   (Required)   - This pixel captures order and conversion information which is used to measure the effectiveness of each campaign.
  • Event Based Pixel  (Optional)   - This pixel allows you to track different actions on your site and measure them as part of your overall search marketing program.

Please Note:   If you do not have the access or knowledge to make these changes to your website you should contact your web developer or whoever makes changes to your site. Pixels should be implemented in such a way that browser settings such as "do not track" are respected.

 

Visit Pixel (Required)

The Visit Pixel captures inbound traffic information and needs to be added to every page on your website including the Order Confirmation page.  We strongly encourage you to place the Visit pixel in the <Head> section of your website. ChannelAdvisor pixel is asynchronous, meaning we make the request to start loading the page but nothing blocks waiting for the script to load, mitigating any issues with placing it in the <Head> section. If you are unable to add it in the <Head> section, we recommend placing it as high as possible in the <Body> section.

  • This pixel allows us to capture the search term or phrase used by the visitor to find your site.
  • The Visit pixel is required on all your product landing pages to track results for the Keyword Term Generator, Google Shopping performance, and performance of Flex Feeds to custom destinations.
  • Google Shopping does not allow any clients to send redirect URL's in their product feeds. Therefore, ChannelAdvisor Complete appends a code to the end of the URL for your product landing pages. 
  • When a buyer clicks on the product on Google Shopping and lands on your product page, the Visit Pixel fires and picks up the parameter. 
  • This is how we attribute the click as coming from Google. When a buyer checks out, the order confirmation pixel matches that up with the hit and associates that order with the hit from Google Shopping.
Complete the following steps to obtain and install the Visit Pixel:
  1. Navigate to your  My Account > Account Settings > Tracking Pixel.
  2. Copy the code found in the Visit Pixel section and paste it in the <Head> section of every page on your site including the order confirmation page.

 

Order Tracking Pixel (Required)

The Order Tracking pixels captures order and conversion information which is used to measure the effectiveness of each campaign.  The code has several parameters ( order value, order ID, Product ID ) that will need to be integrated and customized for the particular store or shopping cart. 

  1. Navigate to your   My Account > Account Settings > Tracking Pixel   view
  2. Copy the code found in the Order Tracking section and install it on the order confirmation page of your checkout.
  3. Map the following parameters to your site
    • oVal (Required)   – The total dollar value of the order, not including shipping & handling or taxes. Do not include the currency symbol.
    • OrderID  (Required)  – The order identifier associated with this order, in your system.
    • ProductID  (Required)  – SKU associated with each line item.
    • UnitPrice  (Required) - The sales price of a single quantity of the SKU. This field is for future use and is not currently considered in the calculations.
    • Quantity  (Required)- The quanity of the SKU purchased.
    • CurrencyCode (Optional) - The currency code of the order.
There will be one product push line for each item in the order.
If you are using anything other than a comma to separate products in your order data, you will need to add the following before the close parenthesis in the order pixel:

ProductSeparator: 'SEPARATOR' ,

Your unique separator value, such as a "|" would then go inside the single quotes. An example of this parameter added to the pixel is below:


<script type="text/javascript">
  var _caq = _caq || [];
  var products = [];
  products.push({Sku: '123', UnitPrice: '1.00', Quantity: '1'});
   products.push({Sku: '456', UnitPrice: '2.00', Quantity: '2'});
  _caq.push(["Order", {
      EventTypeID: '3',  // optional
      OrderId: '456',
      Revenue: '1.00',
  CurrencyCode: 'USD', 
      ProductSeparator: '|',
      Products: products
  }]);
</script>


 

Event Based Pixel Tracking (Optional)

ChannelAdvisor can report on multiple event types, in addition dollar values can be assigned to each event type. ChannelAdvisor defines events as any action taken by a user on your site that you wish to measure.

  • Typical tracked events include e-mail newsletter sign-ups and new user registration.
  • The Event pixel needs to be installed on the corresponding event confirmation page on your site to track the number of conversions.
  • If you choose to, you can map the values in the pixel based on your site configuration (when applicable).
  • If you'd like to track a lead, without an associated value, you can use the Event Tracking code provided.
  • If you'd like to assign a value to the event, you need to create a custom event

 

  1. Navigate to your My Account > Account Settings > Tracking Pixel view.
  2. Select an event from the dropdown
  3. Copy the resulting code and install it on the relevant event page of your website.
  4. Map the following parameters to your site
    • EventTypeID  (Required)– The EventTypeID indicates the specific event type being tracked. Common event types include Lead (EventTypeID=4), Google Checkout (EventTypeID=29), ChannelAdvisor Store Checkout (EventTypeID=28). Custom event types can be created on the My Account > Account Settings > Tracking Pixel screen. If no event type is passed, a standard order conversion is assumed.
    • oVal (Required)   – The total dollar value of the order, not including shipping & handling or taxes. Do not include the currency symbol.
    • OrderID (Optional)   – The order identifier associated with this order, in your system.
    • ProductID  – SKU associated with each line item.
    • UnitPrice - The sales price of a single quantity of the SKU. This field is for future use and is not currently considered in the calculations.
    • Quantity - The quanity of the SKU purchased.
    • CurrencyCode - The currency code of the order.

 

Reference

We have helped implement pixels for several popular storefronts and offer the following examples to get you started:

  • ChannelAdvisor Premium Stores
  • Yahoo! Stores
  • Tag Management solutions: Please refer to your individual tag management solution for pixel implementation instructions. You will still need to map the custom parameters in the pixel. The ChannelAdvisor pixel is javascript.

ChannelAdvisor Digital Marketing provides ROI reporting of online search, comparison shopping engine and Social Media campaigns. Reporting is available at the channel level (Paid search, Natural search, and Comparison Shopping Engines, Social Media), campaign level, category level, keyword level and by SKU.   

Clients can configure their ChannelAdvisor accounts to use either of our tracking types.  Tracking pixels are required for both tracking types.  Contact support to set your account tracking configuration.

  • Parametrized:  Which appends our tracking IDs as a URL parameter on your Product URLs.
  • Redirect:  We store your URLs on our server and replace them in data feeds with a link to our servers.  When a buyer clicks a link, our servers set a cookie and redirect them to your product URLs.

There are some sites that only support parametrized tracking.  If your account is configured for redirect tracking, we will automatically use parametrized tracking for any sites that require it.

Prerequisites

Video

Implementing Tracking Pixels - This video describes what tracking pixels are, why they are important and outlines the differences between the various tracking pixels. View Transcript 

Tasks to Complete

Tracking pixels must be installed on various pages of your website to capture traffic, order and event data. The pixels are JavaScript code and are very similar to others you may already have on your site. For active campaigns, once the pixel is installed you should expect to see reporting in ChannelAdvisor within 24 hours. Below are specific instructions for installing each type of pixel as well as links to view examples and additional information.  

View the video above and then complete the tasks below:

  • Visit Pixel (Required)   - This pixel captures inbound visit information.
  • Order Tracking Pixel   (Required)   - This pixel captures order and conversion information which is used to measure the effectiveness of each campaign.
  • Event Based Pixel  (Optional)   - This pixel allows you to track different actions on your site and measure them as part of your overall search marketing program.

Please Note:   If you do not have the access or knowledge to make these changes to your website you should contact your web developer or whoever makes changes to your site. Pixels should be implemented in such a way that browser settings such as "do not track" are respected.

 

Visit Pixel (Required)

The Visit Pixel captures inbound traffic information and needs to be added to every page on your website including the Order Confirmation page.  We strongly encourage you to place the Visit pixel in the <Head> section of your website. ChannelAdvisor pixel is asynchronous, meaning we make the request to start loading the page but nothing blocks waiting for the script to load, mitigating any issues with placing it in the <Head> section. If you are unable to add it in the <Head> section, we recommend placing it as high as possible in the <Body> section.

  • This pixel allows us to capture the search term or phrase used by the visitor to find your site.
  • The Visit pixel is required on all your product landing pages to track results for the Keyword Term Generator, Google Shopping performance, and performance of Flex Feeds to custom destinations.
  • Google Shopping does not allow any clients to send redirect URL's in their product feeds. Therefore, ChannelAdvisor Complete appends a code to the end of the URL for your product landing pages. 
  • When a buyer clicks on the product on Google Shopping and lands on your product page, the Visit Pixel fires and picks up the parameter. 
  • This is how we attribute the click as coming from Google. When a buyer checks out, the order confirmation pixel matches that up with the hit and associates that order with the hit from Google Shopping.
Complete the following steps to obtain and install the Visit Pixel:
  1. Navigate to your  My Account > Account Settings > Tracking Pixel.
  2. Copy the code found in the Visit Pixel section and paste it in the <Head> section of every page on your site including the order confirmation page.

 

Order Tracking Pixel (Required)

The Order Tracking pixels captures order and conversion information which is used to measure the effectiveness of each campaign.  The code has several parameters ( order value, order ID, Product ID ) that will need to be integrated and customized for the particular store or shopping cart. 

  1. Navigate to your   My Account > Account Settings > Tracking Pixel   view
  2. Copy the code found in the Order Tracking section and install it on the order confirmation page of your checkout.
  3. Map the following parameters to your site
    • oVal (Required)   – The total dollar value of the order, not including shipping & handling or taxes. Do not include the currency symbol.
    • OrderID  (Required)  – The order identifier associated with this order, in your system.
    • ProductID  (Required)  – SKU associated with each line item.
    • UnitPrice  (Required) - The sales price of a single quantity of the SKU. This field is for future use and is not currently considered in the calculations.
    • Quantity  (Required)- The quanity of the SKU purchased.
    • CurrencyCode (Optional) - The currency code of the order.
There will be one product push line for each item in the order.
If you are using anything other than a comma to separate products in your order data, you will need to add the following before the close parenthesis in the order pixel:

ProductSeparator: 'SEPARATOR' ,

Your unique separator value, such as a "|" would then go inside the single quotes. An example of this parameter added to the pixel is below:


<script type="text/javascript">
  var _caq = _caq || [];
  var products = [];
  products.push({Sku: '123', UnitPrice: '1.00', Quantity: '1'});
   products.push({Sku: '456', UnitPrice: '2.00', Quantity: '2'});
  _caq.push(["Order", {
      EventTypeID: '3',  // optional
      OrderId: '456',
      Revenue: '1.00',
  CurrencyCode: 'USD', 
      ProductSeparator: '|',
      Products: products
  }]);
</script>


 

Event Based Pixel Tracking (Optional)

ChannelAdvisor can report on multiple event types, in addition dollar values can be assigned to each event type. ChannelAdvisor defines events as any action taken by a user on your site that you wish to measure.

  • Typical tracked events include e-mail newsletter sign-ups and new user registration.
  • The Event pixel needs to be installed on the corresponding event confirmation page on your site to track the number of conversions.
  • If you choose to, you can map the values in the pixel based on your site configuration (when applicable).
  • If you'd like to track a lead, without an associated value, you can use the Event Tracking code provided.
  • If you'd like to assign a value to the event, you need to create a custom event

 

  1. Navigate to your My Account > Account Settings > Tracking Pixel view.
  2. Select an event from the dropdown
  3. Copy the resulting code and install it on the relevant event page of your website.
  4. Map the following parameters to your site
    • EventTypeID  (Required)– The EventTypeID indicates the specific event type being tracked. Common event types include Lead (EventTypeID=4), Google Checkout (EventTypeID=29), ChannelAdvisor Store Checkout (EventTypeID=28). Custom event types can be created on the My Account > Account Settings > Tracking Pixel screen. If no event type is passed, a standard order conversion is assumed.
    • oVal (Required)   – The total dollar value of the order, not including shipping & handling or taxes. Do not include the currency symbol.
    • OrderID (Optional)   – The order identifier associated with this order, in your system.
    • ProductID  – SKU associated with each line item.
    • UnitPrice - The sales price of a single quantity of the SKU. This field is for future use and is not currently considered in the calculations.
    • Quantity - The quanity of the SKU purchased.
    • CurrencyCode - The currency code of the order.

 

Reference

We have helped implement pixels for several popular storefronts and offer the following examples to get you started:

  • ChannelAdvisor Premium Stores
  • Yahoo! Stores
  • Tag Management solutions: Please refer to your individual tag management solution for pixel implementation instructions. You will still need to map the custom parameters in the pixel. The ChannelAdvisor pixel is javascript.
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  Page last updated: Fri, 01/30/2015 - 10:59