Conversion pixels are small code snippets that, when added to a web page, help track users visiting those pages. Usually, they are used on the final conversion page of your consumer transaction. For example, on an e-commerce store, the pixel would be installed on the “Order Confirmation” or “Thank You” page, shown after the customer completes their purchase.
The ExpertVoice conversion pixel helps you track conversions from your ExpertVoice Product Seeding Campaigns (a.k.a. Redirect Stores), to help ensure billing accuracy. Additionally, the pixel will pass back product details, to allow reporting on what products ExpertVoice experts are purchasing.
Installing pixels on a conversion page
The pixel JavaScript code will be installed within the HTML template of your checkout confirmation page. You will likely need support from your web development or engineering team to complete the installation. Optionally, this pixel may be implemented using tag management software such as Google Tag Manager, Tealium, etc. (The below order data must be fed into the tag manager for such implementations.)
If you are on Shopify, we have a Shopify App that can be quickly installed to report ExpertVoice orders. You can view this article for further details.
Define transaction data for your pixel
Add the following code along with other JavaScript to your conversion page, usually just before the closing </head> tag.
Note: All Green items in the code must be replaced with actual values.
Below is a sample snippet of the pixel code. Contact your ExpertVoice Account Executive for the actual code that can be added to your page.
The code snippet above creates a JavaScript object named _exp, which is then populated with information about the order, and the products being purchased. Here are some points to note about the code snippet shown above:
- All Green items are variables and need to be replaced by actual values (__ORDER_ID__, __SUBTOTAL__, etc.).
-
orderDiscountCode is how we identify which orders were placed by ExpertVoice experts, and the only orders that are stored within the Expertvoice reporting data.
- If you are not using unique discount codes, please pass back a fixed value of "expertvoice" for all orders placed by ExpertVoice experts.
-
orderSubtotal is the order value that ExpertVoice Commissions are calculated from.
- This should be the merchandise subtotal after any discounts are applied, and before tax & shipping are added.
- The products array should be populated with each product being purchased. Your engineers will typically have to loop through a list of products and add that set of product values once for each product. Please refer to the documentation provided by your e-commerce platform for technical details on achieving this.
Pixel variable definitions
| Variable | Description |
| Account Info | |
| __PIXEL_ID__ |
Required Pixel identifier. Contact your Client Success Manager for this item. |
| Order Data | |
| __ORDER_ID__ |
Required Order identifier |
| __SUB_TOTAL__ |
Required Total billed amount before tax and shipping charges, after applying discounts. (e.g. ‘199.00’) |
| __DISCOUNT__ | Total discount applied in dollars (for the currency you’re reporting the sale in). (e.g. ‘45.00’) |
| __TAX__ | Total tax applied (e.g. ‘14.00’) |
| __SHIPPING_CHARGES__ | Total shipping charges (e.g. ‘10.00’) |
| __TOTAL__ |
Required Total order amount after applying discounts, tax, and shipping charges. (e.g. ‘223.00’) |
| __CURRENCY__ |
Required Currency of transaction (Default: USD. Expected values: USD, CAD, AUD, etc.) |
| __DISCOUNT_CODE__ |
Required ExpertVoice Discount code used in the transaction. If the redirect store does not use unique discount codes, please pass back a value of "expertvoice" on orders placed by ExpertVoice experts. |
| Product Level Data - Loop through items ordered | |
| __ID__ |
Required Product ID — Must match the product-level identifier provided in your product catalog; used for mapping reviews for syndication. |
| __NAME__ | Product name. Must not contain reserved/special characters that will cause Javascript errors (single quote, double quote, etc.) |
| __SKU__ |
Required Product SKU |
| __UPC__ | Product UPC |
| __MSRP__ | Product MSRP (e.g. ‘244.00’) |
| __PRICE__ |
Required Price paid for item(e.g. ‘199.00’) |
| __QTY__ |
Required Number of units (or quantity) purchased. (e.g. ‘1’) |
Pixel FAQ
Will this completely eliminate the need to manually send your sell-through data?
Not right away. It’s important that you continue to gather and self-report your ExpertVoice order data in order to validate that the pixel is accurately reporting. This will help ensure timely and accurate invoicing.
Beyond helping with reporting, what other benefits come with installing a pixel on my site?
The primary benefit of implementing the pixel on your site is to help streamline and automate the billing process. In the future we will use this data to prompt experts to write reviews for the products they purchase on your site, which can then be used for Review Syndication.
Will you receive sensitive information like customer personal data, or credit card numbers?
No credit card or personal information of any kind will be shared via the tracking pixel. It’s simply a summary of the order data.
What information gets shared with ExpertVoice?
- Order ID *
- Subtotal (post-discount) *
- Discount
- Tax charged
- Shipping charges
- Total charged *
- Currency (e.g. USD, CAD, AUD, etc.) *
- Discount code *
- Information about each product purchased:
- ID *
- Name
- SKU *
- UPC
- MSRP
- Price (after discount) *
- Quantity Purchased *
* Denotes required fields
What if some of this data doesn’t apply to our e-commerce site.
You can leave some items blank. Please make sure all required data is included.
Won’t this give you all of our order information? Not just the orders from your members?
No, we only store pixel data that contains a discount code that matches a code we assigned to an expert, or pixel data that contains a fixed code of "expertvoice" when the redirect isn't using discount codes.
How are order returns tracked/handled?
The Pixel only sends ExpertVoice data when an order is placed. Due to the nature of how order conversion trackers transfer data, not all orders will make it back to our system. This is expected, and will generally balance out slightly in the brand's favor after accounting for returns/cancellations. During the monthly invoicing process, if there is a disproportionate level of returns/cancellations, the brand can send the ExpertVoice finance team the adjustment request and the invoicing will be updated accordingly.
Will we be able to see or validate the data you receive so that we can confirm we’re being billed correctly?
Yes, we’ll be able to provide you with reporting that can be used in conjunction with your own data to confirm the tracking pixel is providing accurate data.
We use a tag management software such as Google Tag Manager or Tealium Tag Manager, will this work with the pixel?
Yes, this tracking pixel will work with most tag management tools. It should be easily implemented through a tag manager (Tealium, GTM, etc) as long as the appropriate order values are being sent to it.
I’m hesitant about adding this to our site, we’re very protective of sharing our data.
If you are already doing affiliate sales or retargeting marketing, the ExpertVoice tracking pixel functions in exactly the same way. Tracking pixels are a standard method of communication between online sales partners.
We do not pull in any additional JS libraries and follow best practices for invoking our script (it’s modeled after how both Google and Facebook asynchronously load their snippet JS). Our JS file is static and minified; it’s hosted on AWS CloudFront to ensure the fastest load time possible.
Will I need to add this to every page on our site or just the order confirmation page?
We’re only asking that the tracking snippet be placed on the order confirmation page to report on the order details.
How does it work? Give me the nerdy details.
The snippet invokes a small, 1.5k JavaScript file. This file has the simple purpose of compiling the order value variables you've set in JSON and sending them to our API. Our redirect service then checks if the order contains a discount code in our database, and if so, passes the order info on to our analytics collector (rejecting any requests that don't have a code issued by ExpertVoice).