For small businesses with limited ad spend, Shopify's built-in integrations are adequate. But for merchants really looking to optimize their ad spend and truly understand their customer journeys, Shopify's default integrations are quite limited.
Implementing Your Own Tags
There are two key benefits to implementing your own attribution tracking tags in code:
You have full control over the implementation.
You can version control your tags in your theme code to better manage change.
The downside to implementing your own tags is that few internal teams, or even agencies teams, truly understand all of the ins and outs of implementing these tags.
Moreover, tag-based solutions are entirely client-side, meaning they don't tack advantage of new server-side technologies for more accurate tracking and deeper integrations with "offline" tools like re-billing platforms (ReCharge) or point-of-sale solutions.
Solutions Based On Google Tag Manager (e.g., Elevar)
Google Tag Manager (GTM) seemingly presents many benefits. For example, non-technical users can add tags to your storefront without asking developers for support.
Apps like Elevar make it much easier to build out comprehensive GTM-based solutions.
However, Google Tag Manager setups can get fragile and overly complex quickly. It's difficult to manage change and documentation with GTM. One slip up by a marketing intern who has access to GTM, and your entire tracking solution can be ruined.
What's worse, when bugs do appear in GTM, it's typically only after a significant period of time, and after significant data has been lost or corrupted.
Dedicated Apps Like Fueled
Obviously we're biased.
But we believe that dedicated apps that manage attribution tracking configurations in code are the most reliable approach. Many of these apps, including Fueled, will provide javascript libraries and Google Tag Manager templates to provide merchants with the flexibility to customize and extend their tracking plans. But core event tracking is managed in code to provide stability and reliability.
