# Unassigned Markets

When the **Markets module** is enabled, Littledata fetches all active Shopify Markets and makes them available for **per-market configuration** for all destinations.

Alongside your Shopify Markets, Littledata also creates a special internal market called **Unassigned markets,** which exists to ensure events are still processed and sent downstream when a Shopify market cannot be reliably identified.

## What are unassigned markets?

Unassigned markets are a Littledata-only fallback market that:

1. Exists **only inside Littledata**
2. Is **not created in Shopify**
3. Appears under **every market-aware destination**
4. Is used when a Shopify market **cannot be determined for an event**

Rather than dropping events or assigning them incorrectly, Littledata routes them to **Unassigned markets** so your data remains complete and predictable.

## Why unassigned markets exist

Shopify does not always provide enough context to reliably identify a market for every event.

Without a fallback market:

* Events could be dropped entirely
* Events could be misattributed to the wrong market
* Reporting and optimisation would become unreliable

By routing these events explicitly, Littledata avoids silent data loss and makes edge cases visible and manageable.

## When events are assigned to unassigned markets

An event is routed to **Unassigned markets** when Littledata cannot resolve a valid Shopify market. This typically happens when events originate:

**Outside normal online storefront flows:**

* Draft orders
* POS orders
* Orders created directly in Shopify Admin
* Third-party sales channels (for example, Amazon or marketplace apps)
* Imported or historical data\\

**Or due to tracking limitations:**

* The tracking script cannot fetch market data (for example, network issues or blocked requests)
* Required Shopify context is missing or unavailable at the time the event fires

In these cases, no Shopify market ID can be derived, so the event is assigned to Unassigned markets instead.

## Lifecycle and configuration behavior

When the **markets module** is enabled or disabled, **Unassigned markets** follow the same lifecycle and configuration rules as regular Shopify markets:

1. They appear automatically on all market-aware destinations
2. They can be configured consistently alongside other markets
3. They remain available as a fallback whenever market attribution is not possible

\\


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://help.littledata.io/sources/shopify-markets/unnasigned-markets.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.