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Shopify's Thank You/Order Status Page and Checkout Extensibility FAQ

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Thank You and Order Status Page Checkout Extensibility

Updates to Thank You and Order Status Page Checkout Extensibility

Thank You and Order Status Page Checkout Extensibility

What is Thank You and Order Status Checkout Extensibility?

As of November 7th, 2023, Shopify released it's new Thank You and Order Status page checkout extensibility for Shopify Plus Merchants only. [Shopify Changelog]

The value of enabling this setting is you'll be able to utilize Apps that use this feature (e.g. Shopify's new Subscription & Bundle apps) or potentially features within certain apps.

However, if you enable this setting, it will have several impacts on your tracking:

  • Any tracking in your checkout.liquid will no longer fire on your Thank You/Order Status pages
  • Any tracking in your Order Status Page additional scripts will no longer fire on your Thank You/Order Status pages
  • Any apps using Shopify's ScriptTag will no longer work as intended.

How do I check if I have transitioned my Elevar tracking to a Custom Pixel?

If you are using Thank You Extensibility, you'll need to ensure your Elevar checkout scripts are located in a Custom Pixel. To determine if you've transitioned your Elevar tracking to a Custom Pixel in Shopify

  • Navigate to settings from your Shopify store admin by clicking on the "Settings" button or gear icon in the lower left-hand corner of the homepage.
  • Use the left-hand menu to click on the "Customer events" tab.
  • If you've upgraded and followed the directions you will see "Elevar - Checkout Tracking" as a Custom Pixel and the status must be "Connected". If you are seeing this your checkout tracking scripts are located in the Custom Pixel!
    • (See Figure 1)

Step 1 screenshot_Figure 1_

What are the limitations of Shopify's web pixel?

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Warning: Due to the limitations of Shopify's web pixel, if you require any of the following, we would advise you not to use the Custom Pixel Code:

1. If you require sending new vs returning user data to your client-side destinations, you should wait to upgrade. This type of data is especially important to affiliate integrations.

  • Why? Shopify's OrdersCount parameter in the Web Pixel (which is used to identify new vs returning purchasers) will only populate a value if the shopper is logged in to their account. For most websites, fewer than 5% of traffic is logged into their account.
  • Upgrade your app (instructions) to prevent this limitation from affecting your server-side tracking.

2. If you have web tracking for One Time vs Subscription Products you’ll need to re-setup your tracking to keep your destinations working as expected. Follow this guide to adjust your setup for the new way Shopify makes this data available.

I'm not on Checkout Extensibility. What does this mean for me?

If you are not on Checkout Extensibility and don't plan to upgrade to it - no changes are necessary to your current setup to continue tracking client events on the checkout.

If you are not on Checkout Extensibility and are planning to upgrade to it, you can follow our upgrade guide.

Updates to Thank You and Order Status Page Checkout Extensibility

You may have received a message from Shopify on June 12th, 2024, that outlines an important update regarding Checkout and the Thank You page. In the message, Shopify highlights an important change that you will need to implement in their Additional Scripts to ensure accurate conversion tracking.

Specifically, merchants are advised to replace instances of "order.{anything}" and "checkout.order_name" with "checkout.order_id" in their scripts and update related systems accordingly. Alternatively, merchants can opt to upgrade their Thank You page using app blocks and Web Pixels to reduce reliance on Liquid variables.

How do I know if this applies to me?

There are two scenarios in which this update applies to you...

1. I have Elevar code that lives in the Order Status Page Scripts or checkout.liquid:

  • If you still have Elevar’s code loading in your checkout.liquid or in the Order Status Page Additional Scripts box, you need to upgrade your Shopify Source in Elevar. This upgrade will guide you through the path to migrate your tracking to Shopify’s new Customer Events setting.
  • You will know if this applies to you by looking in your Elevar App. Begin on your Elevar homepage and use the left-hand menu to click on the "My Tracking" tab. Locate your Shopify Source, if there is an “upgrade” button, you need to make the update. If your Shopify Source doesn’t have an upgrade button, there’s no action you need to take.

2. I have other code that lives in the Order Status Page Scripts or checkout.liquid:

  • If you have other code in your checkout.liquid or in the Order Status Page Additional Scripts box that references Shopify’s order or checkout object (as specified in Shopify’s email) you will need to make a change.
  • That change could involve migrating the tracking to an Elevar destination (e.g., moving your hard-coded PepperJam script to our server-side destination). It could also entail migrating the tracking to Google Tag Manager (e.g., moving your Google Ads hard-coded conversion action code to GTM using our pre-built Google Ads tags). Alternatively, this action could be manually updating the variables within the code to reference the updated objects specified by Shopify. We recommend considering the first two options initially to ensure tracking remains intact.

What do I need to do for Non-Elevar scripts?

  • Replace "order.{anything}" and "checkout.order_name" with "checkout.order_id" in Additional Scripts and similarly update any downstream systems that rely on this data.
  • You can also upgrade your Thank you page and customize it using app blocks and Web Pixels. This will eliminate your dependence on Liquid variables, but downstream systems will still need to be updated. Learn more here.

Why do I need to do this?

  • The fields "order.{anything}" and "checkout.order_name" are populated during order creation. With Checkout Extensibility, this happens independently of the Thank You page loading to improve scale and provides a faster experience for your customers.
  • The side effect is that "order.{anything}" and "checkout.order_name" are usually not available when the Thank You page loads. Continuing to use these fields can result in conversion seeming lower than it is, impacting analytics, or interrupting integrations with downstream apps.
  • "checkout.order_id", is a common and unique identifier across checkout and order creation. It is available as soon as checkout is completed and can reliably be used to tie together analytics, downstream systems, and the buyer experience.

How do I migrate to custom pixel script?

If you have received Shopify's recent message regarding Checkout and the Thank You page, it's crucial to take action for accurate conversion tracking. Consider migrating to the Custom Pixel script to ensure order identifiers continue to be passed correctly.

Remove Previous Scripts:

  • Navigate to your Shopify's Settings by clicking on the "Settings" button or gear icon in the lower left-hand corner of the homepage.
  • Once in the settings, use the left-hand menu to click on "Checkout" tab and then navigate to the "Order Status Page Additional Scripts" section. Then remove any previous Elevar scripts to prevent duplicate tracking.

Create Custom Pixel:

  • Navigate to your Shopify's Settings by clicking on the "Settings" button or gear icon in the lower left-hand corner of the homepage.
  • Once in the settings, use the left-hand menu to click on the "Customer Events" tab.
  • Click "Add a custom pixel" and use the text box to name the new pixel (e.g. Elevar - Checkout Tracking).

Add Custom Code:

  • Copy your existing customization code (without <script> tags) and paste it into the custom pixel script area.

Update Data Layer Customizations:

  • If you have customized the data layer, ensure these customizations are added to the new custom pixel script.

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If you've already made this migration but still have scripts in the order status page section, transitioning Google Ads Conversion actions to GTM using pre-built web tags is recommended.

Updated 5 months ago