Attribution
When a shopper buys an item, attribution answers a single question: which Constructor discovery surface should get credit for that sale?
Every dashboard figure that splits purchases or revenue by source comes from this model—per search term, per browse page, per recommendations pod, per item in item analytics. It runs on Constructor's first-party behavioral events, needs no additional setup, and does not depend on third-party cookies or consent banners.
What Constructor counts
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Model | Last touch—the most recent discovery interaction wins |
| Attribution window | 30 days, spanning sessions |
| Anchor event | Add-to-cart |
| Purchase handling | Inherits the attribution of the add-to-cart, even if the purchase happens days later in a different session |
| Sources | Search, Categories, Collections, Facet pages, Recommendations |
| Granularity | One source per item per conversion event |
| Refresh | Daily, per customer. |
Source definitions
| Source | What counts as an interaction | What we record |
|---|---|---|
| Search | The shopper viewed a search results page for a query, or selected the item on one | The search term |
| Categories | The shopper viewed a category browse page that included the item, or selected the item there. | The category that defines the page |
| Collections | The shopper viewed a curated collection page that included the item or selected the item there. | The collection |
| Facet pages | The shopper viewed a facet page that included the item, or selected the item there. | The facet name and value |
| Recommendations | The item was shown to the shopper in a recommendations pod, or the shopper selected it there | The pod |
Unknown source
Unknown Source is what the dashboard shows when Constructor received the sale but could not confirm which source sent the shopper. It is unattributable data, not lost data. The sale is counted, only its origin is unresolved. What remains in it:
- Direct navigation to a product page from an untracked referrer — a bookmark, a social link, a search engine — with no Constructor discovery interaction earlier in the window.
- Gaps in tracking instrumentation, where events or referrer information are missing.
Purchases completed in a later session than the discovery used to be the largest contributor. The cross-session window removes them.
How Constructor credits a purchase
- For a given shopper and item, collect every discovery interaction inside the 30-day window.
- Take the last one before the add-to-cart. That source wins.
- When the shopper completes the purchase, it inherits the add-to-cart's source — including when the purchase happens in a later session, days after the discovery.
- If there is no discovery interaction inside the window, the sale is reported as Unknown Source.
Attribution is computed per item, not per order. For example, an order with two items can credit Search for one item and Recommendations for another, and each attributed item carries exactly one source.
Why add-to-cart and not the purchase? The add-to-cart action is where the shopper decides to buy, and it is the last point in the journey that still carries discovery context. By checkout, the shopper is usually on a generic cart page where no source information is available.
Attribution window vs. session
Starting September 1, 2026, reporting will switch from a session-based attribution model to a 30-day cross-session model. The table below outlines the differences between the previous model and the new model.
| Session-based (previous) | Cross-session (new) | |
|---|---|---|
| Window | A single session | 30 days, spanning multiple sessions |
| Shopper returns later to buy | Attribution lost, reported as Unknown Source | Attribution preserved |
| Effect on reported figures | Baseline | More revenue attributed, smaller Unknown Source share |
Updated about 2 hours ago