Skip to main content
Connect an app that you own in the same Shopify organization as your store. This connects your catalog, samples, and verified orders to SideShift while the SideShift public Shopify app is unavailable. There are two required parts: connect the app credentials, then install the checkout pixel. A green store connection confirms the first part. It does not confirm that checkout tracking works.

​
Keep these pages open

Use the same store and organization in all three tabs. The app belongs to your Shopify organization; the SideShift connection belongs to the company selected in SideShift. A personal Shopify login can have access to several organizations, so check the selected organization before creating the app.

​
Before you start

  • You can create and install apps in the Shopify organization that owns the store. If these controls are missing, ask the store owner to perform the Shopify steps or grant the required access.
  • You can manage integrations for the correct SideShift company.
  • You know the store’s your-store.myshopify.com domain. Find it in Shopify → Settings → Domains. Use this domain to connect, even if customers shop at a different custom domain.
  • For a practice run, use a development store or Shopify’s test-payment mode. Do not test a real payment or fulfillment by accident.
You do not need a Meta ad account just to connect Shopify, sync products, or track creator sales. Connect Shopify for free from Settings → Integrations — no paid SideShift plan or payment card is required. Managed advertising setup is a separate step.

​
Part 1: connect the app

1

Add the store in SideShift

Open Settings → Integrations, select Shopify → Connect → Use your own app, then enter the store name and myshopify.com domain. Click Continue to app credentials.You can also start from the campaign builder’s Connect Shopify action. If the store already exists in SideShift, open that store and choose Connect your own Shopify app. Keep this page open.
2

Create the app in the correct Shopify organization

Open the Dev Dashboard. Select the organization that contains your store, then Apps → Create app → Create app manually.Suggested app name: SideShift Store Connection. The name is for your team; it does not have to match the store name.If Shopify asks for an App URL, use https://app.sideshift.app/ads. Turn off Embed app in Shopify admin. This connection uses server-side app credentials, so it does not need an OAuth redirect URL or the legacy install flow.
3

Set the five required scopes

In the app form or version editor, find API access → Scopes. Paste this exact list:
These scopes do not grant unlimited order history. Shopify’s standard order-history limits still apply. For details, see Shopify access scopes.
4

Release the version and install it on the store

Create or release the version. A version name such as sideshift-1 is sufficient.Return to Apps in the Dev Dashboard. Open the Actions menu beside your app and select Install app. Choose the intended store, review the requested access, and click Install.Check: the version is active and the app is installed on the store. Creating an app or saving a version without installing it is not enough.
5

Copy the Client ID and Client secret into SideShift

Open your app’s App settings → Credentials in the Dev Dashboard. Copy Client ID and Client secret into the matching SideShift fields, then click Connect app.Use the app’s Client ID and Client secret—not an Admin API access token, Storefront token, Shopify password, or SideShift API key. Keep the secret in the credential field. Do not paste it into pixel code, a theme, a support message, or a shared document.Check: SideShift shows Connected and opens the Tracking instructions. SideShift validates the app’s scopes and registers the order, refund, fulfillment, and uninstall webhooks. If registration fails, resolve Needs attention before proceeding.
6

Sync and check the catalog

Click Sync products, then open Products. Confirm the completion message and look for a product you recognize, including its variants and price.Check: the Last synced time is current. A connected store with an old sync time is not proof that a fresh Shopify request succeeded.If you connected from the campaign builder, complete the tracking setup and use Return to campaign to keep working on the existing campaign.

​
Part 2: install checkout tracking

The merchant-owned app does not install SideShift’s public app pixel extension. Install the custom checkout pixel from the connected store’s Tracking tab.
1

Check for an existing SideShift pixel

Open Shopify admin, choose the store, and go to Settings → Customer events.If SideShift is already listed, identify whether it is an app pixel or a custom pixel before adding another. Run one active SideShift checkout installation for this connection. A previous public-app pixel is managed by its app; do not assume deleting a custom pixel disables an app pixel. Contact SideShift before switching a live store if you cannot disable the old installation.
2

Add a custom pixel

Select Add custom pixel, name it SideShift, and open its editor.Keep Marketing and Analytics consent required. Review Shopify’s data-sale setting for your store. Use Shopify’s pixel privacy guidance; do not remove consent requirements to make a test pass.
3

Paste the exact code from this SideShift store

In SideShift, open the store’s Tracking tab and click Copy checkout pixel. Replace the example code in Shopify’s custom-pixel editor with that snippet.Click Save, then Connect in Shopify. Review any confirmation Shopify presents.Copy from the correct SideShift company and store. The code contains that store’s pixel ID and destination; do not copy a snippet from another store or replace it with an example from a guide. It must not contain your Client secret.
4

Test a complete checkout with consent

Use Shopify’s Test action for this pixel. In the test storefront, grant analytics and marketing consent, view a product, add it to the cart, and complete a test checkout.Follow Shopify’s test-order instructions. Confirm that test-payment mode is active before submitting payment.In SideShift, click Refresh diagnostics. Check for new events from this test, not older events already listed: product view, add to cart, checkout started, and checkout completed.
A page view is not a checkout test. Browser checkout events carry the checkout identity. SideShift separately reads the order from Shopify to verify payment, refunds, and sample status. Browser code never proves that money was paid.

​
Check the result you actually need

Shopify test-payment orders and free sample orders must not create payable sales commission. A successful simulated checkout proves the browser path and test-order exclusion; it does not prove a real paid commission. Use a deliberately approved real order and eligible creator terms when verifying that final accounting step. See the complete attribution test guide.

​
Set up creators and samples

  1. Open the campaign in SideShift and choose products from the connected Shopify catalog.
  2. Enable sample requests only for the products and variants you want creators to request.
  3. Review a creator’s request before approving it. Approval can create a free Shopify order, affect inventory, and start the store’s fulfillment process.
  4. Check the sample’s order reference and fulfillment/tracking updates in SideShift against Shopify.
Free samples are excluded from sales commission. See Shopify campaign setup and commission rules.

​
Token renewal: no daily reconnect

Shopify normally gives this merchant-app connection a 24-hour access token. SideShift uses Shopify’s returned expiry, starts renewal when 15 minutes or less remain, and checks enabled connections in the background every five minutes. API requests use the same renewal logic. This flow renews the access token by exchanging your Client ID and Client secret again. It is different from the rotating OAuth refresh token used by SideShift’s public app. You do not need to copy a new token each day. Keep the app installed, its required permissions active, and its Client secret current in SideShift. If you rotate the secret, remove the app, or revoke access, automatic renewal cannot restore that access: reconnect the app in SideShift. See Shopify’s client-credentials reference.

​
Troubleshooting

​
What this connection does not do

  • It does not install SideShift’s public embedded Shopify app.
  • It does not launch ads, connect Meta, or charge an advertising account.
  • It does not grant unlimited historical-order access.
  • It does not inherit the public app’s privacy-compliance subscriptions. Manage your merchant app’s privacy requests and data-retention responsibilities.
  • Disconnecting or uninstalling the app does not automatically remove a separately installed custom pixel. Manage that pixel in Shopify Customer events too.
For separate advertising attribution, use Advertising setup. For custom websites outside Shopify, use SideShift Pixel and Orders API; do not submit a connected Shopify order through both integrations.