When reviewing analytics for your store, you may notice differences between the data displayed in Ordergroove and Shopify. These discrepancies arise from variations in how our two platforms process and tag orders. This article explains why these differences occur and how to reconcile them.
Why Shopify and Ordergroove can display different metrics
Shopify and Ordergroove have different systems for processing and tagging orders. There are a few additional differences between initial and recurring orders:
1 Initial/New Orders
Several factors can cause differences in how new orders are counted:
Asynchronous Processing
Order creation involves multiple steps that happen independently:
- Shopify sends a notification (webhook) when an order is created
- Ordergroove processes and stores the order
- Additional processes create subscriptions
If any step fails, it can lead to inconsistencies between platforms.
Failed Payment Processing
Sometimes Shopify cannot securely store (vault) a customer's payment method. When this happens, Ordergroove never receives the order data even though the checkout was attempted.
These orders won't be tagged as ordergroove_trigger_order in Shopify, and never make it into Ordergroove’s system because the subscription was not successfully created against the order.
Order Sources
Orders can come from different sources in Shopify. Here are a few examples of sources that aren’t supported by Ordergroove, so they won’t be counted:
- Draft Orders
- Non-Online Orders
- Matrixify imports
- Social Media
Item vs Order Level Counting
Shopify typically counts at the order level, while Ordergroove often counts at the individual item level. For example, an order with multiple items might be counted differently in each system.
2 Recurring Orders
Processing State Differences
Orders can sometimes get stuck in a "processing" state in Ordergroove even though they're completed in Shopify. This is rare, but can occur if Ordergroove doesn't receive the confirmation of successful order creation. Usually caused by:
- Internal issues with the Shopify system
- Unexpected errors in the event message payload
- Event system underlying infrastructure issues
Order Status Tracking
Ordergroove tracks various order states (unsent, rejected, processing) that don't exist in Shopify, leading to natural differences in how orders are counted. The largest difference is:
Failed Billing Attempts
Failed billing attempts are tracked in Ordergroove as either processing or rejected orders, but not in Shopify, as Shopify only creates orders after successful billing attempts. An attempt in Shopify is actually a distinct Order in Ordergroove.
For more information on failed billing attempts and payments, take a look at Handling Rejected Payments.
Reconciling Shopify and Ordergroove metrics
Best Practices for Comparison
-
Set Realistic Expectations
- Exact matches between platforms are rare. This doesn’t make the data wrong on either platform; it’s just apples and oranges
- Look for numbers to be within a reasonable range, small differences are normal and expected
-
Check Time Periods
- Ensure you're comparing the same time periods in both systems
- Account for processing delays due to asynchronous operations
- Start with a smaller time frame. The discrepancies will be harder to identify if you try to compare a longer period of time.
-
Be Consistent in Analysis Level
- Decide whether to compare at order or item level
- Stick to the same level when comparing across platforms
For Initial/New Orders:
-
Check Ordergroove Trigger Tags
- In Shopify, look for orders tagged with "ordergroove_trigger_order"
- Compare these tagged orders with Ordergroove's initial checkout data
- Remember that some differences will exist due to failed payments and processing issues
-
Review Order Sources
- Focus on online store orders for most reliable comparison
- Consider excluding draft orders and other channels when comparing numbers
- Be aware that different sources may be counted differently
For Recurring Orders:
Use OrderGroove's Order Placed Successfully Report
- Export Orders Placed Successfully from OrderGroove
- Compare with Shopify orders tagged as "ordergroove_subscription_order"
- This gives you the closest possible match between systems
Additional Support
If you notice a large gap between what Shopify and Ordergroove are reporting, please reach out to your CSM or send Ordergroove Support an email and we can help figure it out.