Squarespace vs Shopify: attribution gaps
Squarespace files untagged social-ad clicks under Social and counts Direct as a source; Shopify credits to marketing only campaigns made in Shopify or tagged with UTM parameters, and lists hidden referrers as N/A. Send one tagged click per channel through each platform to see where yours land.
By Joris van Huët, Founder & CEOPublished 6 min read
Run the numbers for your store: the free ad platform over-reporting checker.
Squarespace credits an order to the visitor's "last click", Direct included. Shopify's marketing reports page says last non-direct click is the default model for marketing activity data, and the same page also says Last click is preselected in reports that combine a sales metric with a marketing dimension. Both record visits with cookies, and both can misfile a click that arrives without tags or with a hidden referrer. Where the lost credit lands differs, and the way to see it is to send one tagged click per channel through each platform.
What does each platform record about where an order came from?
| Squarespace | Shopify | |
|---|---|---|
| Credit rule | Last click: if a visitor buys on a second visit from another source, the second source gets the order | Five models; last non-direct click is the default for marketing activity data |
| Direct | A source of its own; links opened in a new window count as Direct | Left out under last non-direct click, unless the whole journey was direct |
| Ad clicks | Google Ads always lands in Paid search; social ad platforms such as Facebook and Pinterest land in Paid social only if the link came from the URL builder, otherwise in Social | Sales count as marketing if the campaign was made in Shopify's Marketing section or the link carries UTM parameters |
| Scope and plans | Basic shows visits only, and the URL builder needs Core, Plus or Advanced | Marketing reports cover Online Store channel orders |
| Hidden referrers | Mismatched SSL settings, and Mailchimp links without e-commerce link tracking, land in Direct | Referrer shows as N/A under Do Not Track, a proxy or firewall, or a shortened URL |
| Export | Analytics reports can't be exported | Most reports export as CSV, XML, JSONL or Parquet |
Which clicks fall out of the record?
Squarespace says its analytics cookies are how it fills in traffic sources, visitor counts and cart abandonment, so when cookies are disabled "the visit and purchase won't appear". For visitors who don't accept analytics cookies it warns that its analytics "may inflate visitor numbers", and its example is one visitor who views ten pages being counted as ten separate visitors. Your own visits count when you're logged out, as Direct or as the source you clicked through from.
Shopify says sessions and visitors are also based on cookies. Its first-interaction clock resets if a visitor doesn't buy within 30 days of a session. Attribution data in its Growth section starts on 1 October 2021, and all storefront data includes cross-device reporting as of 1 March 2023. A Shopify session ends after 30 minutes of inactivity. Squarespace lists a session-tracking cookie that lasts 30 minutes.
GA4 fills consent gaps with modeling, but only above thresholds. Among the prerequisites, Google lists at least 1,000 events per day with analytics_storage denied for at least 7 days, and at least 1,000 daily users sending events with it granted on at least 7 of the previous 28 days. Without enough consented traffic, events from users who decline consent aren't reported.
Why won't either report match GA4?
Squarespace says its numbers "won't match exactly" and that its direct traffic "might be higher than in Google Analytics". GA4 excludes direct visits from credit unless the whole path was direct. For marketing activities created in Shopify, Shopify says its reports can differ from third-party ones because of "differences in how Shopify and third parties attribute interactions and sales". None of these pages measures how large the gaps are, so this page gives no figure for them.
How do you find your own gaps this week?
Run one tagged click per channel through each platform:
- Click with real tags. In a private window, open a link from each channel you run (paid social, paid search, email, affiliate, organic social) with the tags you actually use.
- Wait out the delay. Squarespace says data can take up to three hours to update. Shopify says Growth data can take up to 24 hours.
- Find each visit three times. Look in Squarespace's traffic sources panel, in Shopify's sessions attributed to marketing campaigns, and in GA4's Traffic acquisition report.
- Compare the Direct share. Put last month's Direct share from each platform next to GA4's. Squarespace documents why its Direct runs higher, and Shopify's last non-direct click leaves Direct out.
- Join on the order ID. Squarespace's analytics can't be exported, and its order export lists columns such as Order ID, Subtotal and Discount Code but no traffic source. Take the source from GA4 and join on the order ID.
Pass: each tagged click shows under its own channel in the platform and in GA4, and each Direct gap has a cause on this page. Fail: a tagged paid click filed under Direct, Social or (not set), which points to a missing or malformed tag.
Later, once tagged clicks land where they should, a causal attribution read like Causality Engine's can show what each GA4 channel caused once Direct is split back to the channels that sent those buyers.
Sources, 30 September 2026: Track where your visits come from in traffic sources (Squarespace, updated 25 September 2026); Marketing reports (Shopify, page read 30 September 2026); Measuring marketing performance (Shopify, page read 30 September 2026); Squarespace Analytics (Squarespace, updated 25 September 2026); Exporting reports (Shopify, page read 30 September 2026); The cookies Squarespace uses (Squarespace, updated 10 October 2025); Tracking email campaign analytics (Squarespace, updated 13 April 2026); Connect Google Analytics to your site (Squarespace, updated 28 September 2026); Behavioral modeling for consent mode (Google, page read 30 September 2026); Get started with attribution (Google, page read 30 September 2026); URL builders: Collect campaign data with custom URLs (Google, page read 30 September 2026); Export Commerce orders (Squarespace, updated 24 November 2025); Creating trackable links (Squarespace, updated 14 July 2025)
Related answers
Frequently asked questions
Does Squarespace read UTM parameters?
Squarespace's Help pages on traffic sources and trackable links describe a URL builder for listed ad platforms and don't mention UTM parameters. GA4 reads utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign from the URL, so tag links for GA4 and test how Squarespace's own panel files them.Which attribution model does Shopify use by default?
Shopify says last non-direct click is the default for marketing activity data, while the same Help page says Last click is selected by default in reports that combine a sales metric with a marketing dimension. Check the Attribution menu in the report you're reading.Why is Direct so high in Squarespace analytics?
Squarespace says Direct can look inflated when it includes your own visits, Mailchimp traffic or referral traffic, and that Direct can run higher than in Google Analytics. Links opened in a new window also count as Direct.
Go deeper: Causal attribution, explained.
Sixty-second versions of these ideas: Causality Engine on YouTube Shorts.
Keep reading
Terms in this article
- AttributionAttribution identifies user actions that contribute to a desired outcome and assigns value to each. It reveals which marketing touchpoints drive conversions.
- Cart AbandonmentCart abandonment occurs when a customer adds items to an online shopping cart but leaves without completing the purchase. Reducing cart abandonment is a key goal for improving conversion rates.
- Causal AttributionCausal Attribution uses causal inference to determine which marketing touchpoints genuinely cause conversions, not just correlate with them.
- Direct TrafficDirect Traffic refers to website visitors who arrive by typing the URL directly into their browser or through bookmarks. They do not come from search engines or referrals.
- Google AnalyticsGoogle Analytics is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
- Multi-Touch AttributionMulti-Touch Attribution assigns credit to multiple marketing touchpoints across the customer journey. It provides a comprehensive view of channel impact on conversions.
- Traffic SourceTraffic Source is the origin through which users find a site. Common sources include organic search, paid search, direct traffic, and referrals.
- UTM ParametersUTM Parameters are URL tags marketers use to track campaign effectiveness across traffic sources. They provide data for accurate campaign tracking and attribution in analytics platforms.