How Referral Attribution Works with Kutoku
If you're using Shopify and/or Google Analytics, there's a good chance you'll see some sales in your store software attributed with the source "Direct" or "Organic" (i.e. search) or even one of the publishers we work with. If these sales are or aren't recorded on one of our referral reports, this must be a mistake, right? How can this sale be referred by Kutoku if the purchaser came to your store directly?
Let us explain!
IMPORTANT: Kutoku works with many different publishers, including social media like Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
When a visitor clicks a referral link on one of our publishing partner sites and lands on your web store, Kutoku sets a 30-day cookie in the visitor's browser. This cookie is
only relevant for this specific anonymous visitor. We call this the 'point of discovery' or 'point of inspiration'.
IMPORTANT: A visitor clicking an affiliate link is
the only way a Kutoku / publisher partner is eligible for a commission.
However, while some referred visitors may purchase shortly after this click, this isn't always the case. They may need more time to think through and/or further research the purchase.
If and when the visitor returns, it's important to understand they don't
always do so via the original referring publisher. They may well use a search engine and arrive at a merchant's web store via Google (organic), by directly visiting the site (direct) or by using a bookmark (also direct).
As web users and shoppers ourselves, we all know this is completely normal behaviour. Rarely will someone revisit the exact page/feature on a publisher's site to navigate their way back to the store where they were considering a purchase. Shopify and Google Analytics typically use "last click attribution" or "last interaction" for the referrer attribution. If a sale is made at this stage, it will be attributed with "Direct" or "Organic" as the source.
We believe it's important to distinguish between the point of inspiration and point of transaction for the shopper and understand that these two things do not always happen at the same time.
