Shopify app installation depends on app availability, approval, and merchant authorization. Generic SideShift Pixel tracking does not require the Shopify app. Start with the SideShift Pixel guide for custom websites, browser events, and the Orders API.
Merchant-owned app alternative
If the public app is unavailable, use Connect your own Shopify app. This uses the same order, product, and sample processing, with merchant credentials and a manual checkout pixel installation.Shopify in Settings → Ads & Ecom, Connectors, and Sidekick
Connect and manage Shopify under Settings → Ads & Ecom (https://app.sideshift.app/settings?tab=ads-ecom). Connect Shopify for free. No paid SideShift plan or payment card is required. Signup that returns to Settings → Ads & Ecom keeps that destination after OAuth.
Settings → Connectors and Sidekick’s connector directory show Shopify’s company connection. Connect Shopify once; Sidekick uses the saved connection. Owners and admins can connect a store. Team access follows the company’s commerce permissions.
Sidekick and external MCP clients can:
- List connected stores and imported campaign products.
- Read live Shopify products, inventory, and orders with
shopify_admin_query. - Read verified imported orders with SideShift creator attribution and list sample requests.
- Sync the product catalog or approve/reject an existing sample request through the standard action checks.
first or last between 1 and 100 and request pageInfo to page through live results. Imported product pages start at page: 0. A page is not a store-wide sales total. Shopify permissions apply; the standard order grant generally exposes the last 60 days, not all historical orders. Use SideShift’s imported order tool for creator attribution.
Creator account authorization
In the ad campaign’s Requirements step, open Run ads from creator accounts and turn on Require ads access from creators. A row appears for each platform that creators are asked about, such as Instagram partnership ads or TikTok Spark Ads. The rows follow the platforms that your commission rules pay on. If no rule pays on a platform, every eligible platform is shown. Creators must provide and authorize an account for each platform shown. These accounts do not add organic posting requirements. You can select the requirements before connecting your brand ad accounts. Creators see that authorization is waiting for brand setup until the matching ad account is connected. The creator app and web join flow use the same platform requirements.Choose how sales are counted
In an ad campaign’s Payments step, each Sales & Conversions commission rule has a Count sales from choice:
A rule that counts ad platform reports shows a connect prompt, such as Connect Meta or Connect TikTok, when that ad account is not connected. A rule that counts store orders shows a Store picker. If you have no connected store, the rule shows Connect Shopify instead. If your store does not use Shopify, choose Set up SideShift Pixel. It works with any website, but a developer must add a script to your site and send paid orders from your server. See SideShift Pixel. If you have exactly one connected store when you switch a rule to Store orders, the rule uses it. You can add a store without leaving the campaign. Shopify authorization opens in a new tab, so your campaign stays in place.
A store rule without a store is marked store setup pending and does not accrue. Choose a store and confirm the commission terms before it can earn. Existing creators must accept a newly selected store. Ad platform commission requires a connected ad account and reported ad results; creating a campaign does not launch ads or spend money.
Under Products, after you choose a pay model, select a connected store, sync or search its products, and choose what creators can promote. Choosing a store for products does not change any commission rule. Product choices are applied when the campaign is created or saved. New assignments do not enable sample requests. If a product save fails, the campaign remains saved and SideShift shows a message so you can finish product setup later.
Each commission rule counts sales from one source. Use Add commission rule to combine percentages of ad spend or sales with fixed pay per event or verified store order. Rules add together under one per-creator, per-cycle cap. Separate ad platform and store rules can both pay for the same purchase, so review the source and rate on every rule. Ad-spend and event rules always use ad platform reports.
From a Meta ad to a Shopify order
When you launch an approved submission as a website ad through SideShift, the ad builder adds itsss tracking code if the destination matches a connected store. This applies to uploaded video and image creatives, including ads run under an authorized creator identity. Your saved UTMs remain on the ad. The submission code takes priority over a saved ss parameter so a copied code cannot assign the new creative’s results to another creator.
The Shopify app pixel records the creator click and storefront events when the visitor permits analytics and marketing. Shopify then sends the order to SideShift. SideShift verifies the order through Shopify and uses the checkout token to match the checkout visitor to the latest eligible creator click within seven days. An unmatched order remains unattributed; a browser checkout event alone does not create payable earnings. Sample and Shopify test orders do not earn commission.
The merchant’s Meta pixel is separate. It sends events to Meta for optimization and Meta reporting. SideShift does not forward its pixel events to Meta or treat Meta’s reported purchases as Shopify-confirmed orders.
For ads built directly in Meta, open the store under Settings → Ads & Ecom, open its Tracking tab, create the submission tracking link, and use it as the website URL. Preserve the ss parameter through landing-page redirects. Every page where you need tracking must have the pixel. Ads based only on a social post, with no SideShift submission, do not receive a submission code automatically. App-install destinations are also excluded.
A submission can contain several files. Enable separate submissions per video when each creative needs its own attribution code.
Changes to creator terms
Existing creators keep their accepted attribution source, store, and commission unit until they accept new terms. A switch between Meta and store attribution takes effect on the next UTC reporting date after acceptance. This gives both earnings paths the same switch date because Meta reports daily totals. A lower rate or a lower cycle cap has a 30-day notice period for existing creators. A new creator accepts the rate currently offered. Higher rates apply immediately. If several reductions overlap, each reduction keeps its own notice period. Late orders use the terms that applied when the purchase occurred.Headless Shopify
Connect Shopify first. Open the store’s Tracking tab, select Using headless Shopify? Add a pixel, and copy the install code. In the store’s Settings tab, set Allowed domain to your headless storefront. This uses the same store and order history as the Shopify connection. Load the pixel on your headless pages and pass consent from your consent manager. Before redirecting to Shopify checkout, save the visitor ID as a cart attribute. Use the current cart attributes so you retain other checkout information:userErrors before redirecting to checkout. The helper replaces only sideshift_visitor_id and preserves other attributes. It returns an empty visitor value without consent. Update the cart when consent is withdrawn so an earlier visitor ID is cleared.
Shopify carries cart attributes into the resulting order. SideShift reads this attribute from the verified Shopify order. Do not submit the same Shopify order through the custom-store Orders API. The connected Shopify app handles order verification, refunds, and retries.
The pixel records browser events; it does not read Shopify Admin credentials or create payouts. Use your existing Storefront API client for the cart update. Never put an Admin API token or Orders API key in this browser code.