How does Fabrik decide which channel an order came from?

Every order gets one channel, from one rule: the pixel's last touch in 30 days, else the landing page's tags or click id, else the referrer, else Direct.

4 min readUpdated 7 October 2026

Fabrik Analytics gives every order exactly one channel, worked out once on the server and shown the same way everywhere: the order list's Attribution column, the order record, the Dashboard's By channel card and the Paid Media page's Fabrik-attributed, last click figures.

Before you start

The rule works best with the Fabrik pixel set up on your store (Settings, Tracking). Without it, only Shopify's landing page and referrer can decide.
Seeing the answer needs a plan that includes Orders (Growth or higher). Agency staff and brands covered by their agency's plan are never locked.

The rule, first that applies wins

Pixel. The latest visit with a source that the Fabrik pixel saw for this customer in the 30 days before the purchase. A visit with a campaign tag comes before one that only has an outside referring website. This is the strongest evidence, because the pixel saw the visit itself.
Landing page. The landing page Shopify recorded for the order carried UTM tags or an ad click id.
Referrer. No tags or click id, but the visit came from another website.
Direct. The pixel saw the customer's visits and none had a source, or Shopify recorded a landing page with no tags and no outside referrer.
Not recorded. No evidence at all, as for point of sale, draft and API orders.

The answer always says which of these decided it: Pixel, Landing page or Referrer.

The channels

Orders are named with the same channel names the Website page uses: Paid Social, Paid Search, Display, Organic Social, Organic Search, Email, SMS, Affiliate, Referral, Direct and Other.

A visit's channel comes from its UTM source and medium, then from an ad click id (a Google, Microsoft or TikTok click id names that platform and a paid medium), then from the referring website. The UTM medium names the channel, so use values such as paid_social, paid_search, email, sms or affiliate.

Where to see it

Order list: the Attribution column, and the Attribution filter to list every order from one channel.
Order record: the Attribution tab, with the credited touch, the first click, the ads that contributed and the full journey.
Paid Media: the By channel table shows platform-claimed revenue beside Fabrik-attributed orders and net sales, and the Fabrik-attributed ROAS and Attributed orders tiles.
Dashboard: the By channel card.

What you will see

The Paid Media page's notes say how many of the period's orders matched a journey. Orders the pixel cannot see, such as point of sale orders, never match one.

Troubleshooting

Many orders show Direct: check that ads and emails carry UTM tags and that the pixel is set up.
Many orders show Other: the visits carried tags Fabrik does not recognise as a channel. Use the mediums listed above.
The order record and the list disagree: the record follows the journey and explains the difference in a note.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Meta or Google claim more sales than Fabrik gives them?

Each ad platform counts with its own rules, including views without a click and its own attribution window, and two platforms can both claim the same order. Fabrik gives each order to exactly one channel, on the last click it can see. The Paid Media page shows both, with Claimed divided by attributed beside each channel.

Is this last click or first click?

Last click throughout. The order record's Attribution tab also shows the first click and every ad that contributed, but the order's one channel is the last touch with a source.

Why are some orders Not recorded?

There was no evidence at all: the pixel never saw the customer and Shopify recorded no landing page. This is normal for point of sale, draft and orders created by other apps.

Why does a Google Ads order without UTM tags count as Paid Search?

A Google click id on the landing address, which Google adds when auto-tagging is on, tells Fabrik the visit came from a Google ad, so it is named Paid Search even without campaign tags. A Facebook click id does not decide paid on its own, because Meta adds it to organic clicks too.

How can I make more orders attribute correctly?

Make sure the Fabrik pixel is set up, and tag your ads, emails and texts with UTM tags whose medium names the channel, for example paid_social, paid_search, email or sms.

Do survey answers change an order's channel?

No. The survey is shown beside last click as a separate view, so you can see where buyers say they first heard of you against what last click credits.