Parts 4 and 5: Placing the Tracking Code and Testing
So you’ve made it through the beginning steps of the ShareASale Setup Wizard! Congrats! Now it is time to buckle down and get a bit more technical. For some, these two steps are a breeze though for others, it is more of a challenge. Fear not, our team is here to help guide you in the right direction.
ShareASale’s tracking is done through a combination of cookies and tracking pixels. The cookies go on the consumer’s device (we handle that), and the tracking pixel is a snippet of code that goes on the confirmation page of your shopping cart, also known as the “Thank You” page. By default, the tracking pixel will let us know the OrderID, OrderSubtotal, and Transaction Type. From there, we will be able to piece together the whole story and let you know which Affiliate sent what sale, for how much, at what time, etc. All of these are important data points when factoring in Affiliate tracking, this pixel gets rid of the guesswork!
As it turns out, ShareASale is compatible with most shopping carts out there! When you log into step 4, you’ll see the list shown below that has about 70 different carts. If you do not see yours, there is no need to panic! As you will see below, the fourth option is in case you do not see your specific shopping cart. Likewise, if you are offering a lead commission or if you are using a custom shopping cart, the respective instructions will be presented. For each cart and each option, you will see different instructions.
If you see these instructions and you have absolutely no idea what any of that means, please reach out to us! You can do so by emailing us or by submitting a ticket to us from within your account. When setting the shopping cart up, there is a strong likelihood that you will need a programmer to help or someone familiar with how your site is built. Why is that, you might be asking? Well here is what our default-tracking pixel looks like:
Once you place the pixel on your site and/or shopping cart’s Thank You page, it is time to move on to the testing phase.
Testing is easy!
Simply press the “Begin the Test” button and place a test transaction for more than $1.00. We will use this click action and make a test transaction to verify that everything is all setup and working for you! If not, reach out to us and we can work with you to fix the issue. Our Launch team and Client Services team are fantastic at troubleshooting!
Advanced Options
If you are looking to gather more data and insights surrounding your Affiliate program hosted on ShareASale, some shopping cart platforms allow you to pass additional information to us at the time of sale. For example, a common use is to track New Customers. These additional parameters can be used in many ways, but most notably is to offer incentives to Affiliates. If an Affiliate sends you a New Customer who converts within 7 days, offer a 3X commission multiplier! YES, YOU CAN DO THAT ON SHAREASALE AND AFFILIATES LOVE IT!
Other advanced tracking options that take place within the tracking pixel include (but are not limited to):
New Customer
Coupon Code
SKU
List of SKUs
List of SKU Prices
Quantity of each SKU
Multi-Store Identifier
Merchant Defined (ask us if you’re curious)
Currency
If any of these options look attractive, let us know and we can guide you in the right direction!