The Shopping Cart Pixel (also known as basket freeze or cart lock) is an advanced conversion attribution tool that allows advertisers to reserve a transaction for the original referring publisher at the start of the checkout process. This prevents last-minute attribution shifts to voucher or coupon publishers, and ensures that added-value partners, like content or comparison sites, can still earn their commission.
What is the Shopping Cart Pixel used for?
In affiliate marketing, the last-click attribution model often favors voucher or coupon publishers that consumers visit right before completing an order. The Shopping Cart Pixel (sometimes referred to as a basket freeze, cart lock, or checkout attribution lock) helps ensure fair attribution by locking the commission to the referring publisher at the moment the consumer enters the checkout process.
Example scenario: attribution without the shopping cart pixel
A consumer visits your website via Publisher A and adds products to the cart. Before completing the purchase, they search for a discount code and click a link from Publisher B. Without a Shopping Cart Pixel, Publisher B gets full credit for the transaction. With the pixel in place, the transaction remains attributed to Publisher A, as long as the pixel was fired when the consumer entered the checkout.
When and where to activate the Shopping Cart Pixel
The Shopping cart pixel must be triggered on the cart or checkout page, specifically on the page where the consumer can submit a discount code, voucher, or promotional code. This marks the beginning of the purchase process and ensures proper attribution locking.
Steps in the Shopping Cart Pixel flow
1. Shopping Cart
The visitor adds a product to the cart. The Shopping Cart Pixel is triggered.
2. Cart Lock
The publisher is recognized and the commission is reserved for 1 hour, even if the visitor temporarily leaves and comes back via another publisher.
3. Checkout
The consumer completes the payment.
4. Thank You Page
The order is completed. From this step, the transaction is being registered and commission becomes definitive.
Shopping Cart Pixel code and where to find it
Below you can find the Shopping Cart Pixel. Replace [MATCHING_DOMAIN] for your matching domain and [CAMPAIGN_ID] for your campaign-id and then place this code in the HTML template of your checkout page. It should only fire once, right when the customer enters the phase where they can apply a voucher or complete the purchase.
<!-- START PIXEL CODE //--> <img src="https://[MATCHING_DOMAIN]/cl/?ci=[CAMPAIGN_ID]" style="width: 1px; height: 1px; border: 0" alt="" /> <!-- END PIXEL CODE //-->
How to implement the Shopping Cart Pixel via Google Tag Manager
An easy way to implement the Shopping Cart Pixel is via Google Tag Manager. Follow these steps:
- Log in to Google Tag Manager and open your container.
- Create a new tag of type Custom HTML.
- Paste the pixel code (see above) into the HTML field.
- Create a trigger for the checkout/cart page where consumers can apply discount codes.
- Save and publish your container.
Things to keep in mind
- The pixel only reserves a commission if the consumer was originally referred by a Daisycon publisher.
- Visitors not referred by a Daisycon publisher will not trigger any cart lock effect.
- The transaction is reserved for a set time window (standard is 1 hour).
Need help or advice?
For assistance with setup or to ensure optimal use of the Shopping Cart Pixel (basket freeze), contact your Daisycon contact person.