Tracking subscription orders in the Shopify checkout

Updated on 2021-12-30

Stores using subscription apps to manage recurring orders from the Shopify checkout can track these recurring orders using Littledata as part of the Shopify to Google Analytics or Shopify to Segment connections. Littledata accurately tracks one-off purchases, first-time subscriptions and recurring orders for all of the top subscription apps.

tip:

Littledata's Facebook Conversions API connection also supports subscription tracking for Shopify stores. This lets you can send subscription events back to Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads (Meta) for audience building and remarketing.

Which checkout apps does Littledata work with?

We have tested recurring orders with the following Shopify subscription apps, but it should work with all checkout apps. Please contact our support team if you are using a new app and want to check if we integrate.

  • Recharge (including subscription lifecycle events)
  • Smartrr
  • Yotpo Subscriptions
  • Awtomic
  • Stay Ai/Retextion
  • Skio **
  • Bold Subscriptions (v1 and v2)
  • Ordergroove
  • Upscribe **
  • PayWhirl

** For Skio and Upscribe's legacy checkout (outside of the Shopify checkout), Littledata will automatically track subscription orders but cannot track checkout steps.

Connection Setup

Setting up your subscription app connection is simple. Each requires slightly different setup steps, and our setup guides will walk you through each step of the way. If your subscription app isn't listed here, please contact us to discuss the optimal setup.

How are subscriptions tracked?

For subscriptions in the Shopify checkout, Littledata tracks:

  • Users and products through the Shopify checkout steps
  • First time subscription orders which are tagged by the checkout app *
  • Recurring orders generated by the terms of the subscription contract, back to the original marketing campaign

* Currently Recharge and Ordergroove tag their orders to distinguish them from one-time orders. Littledata picks up these order tags added up to 20 seconds after the order is created.

Advanced Google Analytics setup

In order to get a complete picture of your subscription performance, we recommend having three separate views in your Google Analytics account so you can easily and accurately track each relevant metric.

  • All Website Data – including raw data
  • All orders (Littledata)  – including all your orders (one time, first-time and recurring orders)
  • One-time orders and first-time subscriptions (Littledata)  – including only one-off and first orders

To create a separate Google Analytics view for only One-time orders and first-time subscriptions (Littledata) (so you can get an accurate ecommerce conversion rate), you will need to set up a custom filter to exclude recurring orders. Our app does automatically for Recharge subscriptions.

  1. Go to Google Analytics settings, and in the top right create a new Google Analytics view.
  2. Under view settings, go to Filters.
  3. Create a new filter called Exclude recurring orders .
  4. Select a Custom filter and Exclude based on the field ‘Ecommerce store or Order location’.
  5. Add Recurring Order as the filter pattern (or upscribe_recurring_subscription_order for Upscribe).
  6. Verify the filter to check it matches how your Shopify account is set up.