Attribution

This guide explains how attribution works in Zitcha and how the platform tracks the customer journey from ad interaction to conversion.

What is Attribution?

Attribution is the process of determining which advertising interactions, such as clicks or impressions, led to a specific conversion (for example, a purchase). This helps you understand the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and optimise your advertising strategies.

How Attribution Works

Attributed conversions are identified by checking whether we can connect a click or impression event to a particular conversion. The events are connected via their customer identifiers, using direct value comparison, and are also linked by the ad or product associated with those events.

Attribution Complexity

Attribution can be complex because:

• Customers may interact with ads multiple times and over long periods before making a conversion.
• A single conversion event can relate to multiple ads.

Our system is designed to handle these complexities, ensuring that each conversion is attributed to the most relevant ad interactions.

Attribution Window

To ensure accuracy, only ad interactions that occurred within a specific time frame before the conversion (for example, within 31 days) are considered for attribution. This period is known as the "attribution window". The system records how many days passed between the interaction and the conversion, allowing for flexible reporting and analysis.

Example Attribution Data

For each conversion, the system records information such as:

• The unique identifier for the conversion event.
• The type of customer identifier used (e.g., CRM ID).
• The type of ad interaction (click or impression).
• The number of days between the ad interaction and the conversion.

This data helps you analyse which ads are most effective at driving conversions and how long it typically takes for customers to convert after interacting with an ad.

Summary

• Attribution links conversions to the most relevant ad interactions.
• The system accounts for multiple interactions and ads per conversion.
• Only interactions within a set time window before the conversion are considered.
• Attribution data helps you measure and optimize your advertising performance.

Implementation Guidelines

To enable accurate attribution across the entire customer lifecycle, Zitcha requires identifier continuity — the ability to link user interactions across anonymous and identified states.

Within retail media, users often transition from being anonymous (e.g. browsing) to identified (e.g. logged in or during checkout). To ensure Zitcha can stitch these interactions together, each event must share at least one common identifier.

For example, if anonymous users are tracked using device_id and become known at checkout via crm_id, both identifiers must be included in the conversion event.

// Ad Click
{
  "page_view_id": "pv-1234-uuid",
  "ad_id": "ad-9876",
  "placement_id": "sidebar_ad",
  "customer_identifiers": [
    {
      "type": "device_id",
      "value": "device-abc123"
    }
  ]
}

// Conversion
{
  "customer_identifiers": [
    {
      "type": "device_id",    // Allow identifier continuity 
      "value": "device-abc123"
    },
    {
      "type": "crm_id",
      "value": "crm-user789"
    }
  ],
  "conversion_value": 125.00,
  "currency": "AUD"
}

Including both device_id and crm_id ensures Zitcha can accurately attribute the conversion to the correct ad exposure and maintain a complete view of the user journey.

If you need assistance with implementing conversion tracking or have questions about attribution, please contact our support team.