An introductory example
Imagine an ecommerce store that has the following minimal customer journey:- Viewed Page: User visits the storefront
- Added To Cart: User adds an item to cart
- Placed Order: User places an order
Viewed Page and Added To Cart on the browser, but Placed Order events on .
Challenges with server-side tracking
Tracking thePlaced Order on the server is more reliable, but it introduces three challenges, each of which maps to a core Converge concept.
- : to recognize which browser-side events and which server-side events come from the same user.
- : to store browser-side information about a user so it’s available later.
- : to make sure that the same order doesn’t get processed twice.
The concepts
Aliases
An is a unique identifier for a profile across data sources. Aliases are how Converge stitches a server-side order back to the browser session it came from, and how it re-identifies returning customers over time.Profile properties
are characteristics of a user, like email or user agent, that persist across events rather than belonging to a single event.Server-side enrichment
is how Converge automatically adds stored profile data to a stitched server-side event, so a sparse order event inherits the browser context destinations need to match it.Deduplication
ensures an event tracked in more than one place, such as aPlaced Order seen on both the browser and the server, is only counted once.
Sales channels
classify each event by its tracking context, such as web, subscription, or POS. This keeps stitching and deduplication rates accurate by only applying them where they make sense.New customer status
determines whether aPlaced Order is a customer’s first purchase, via the $is_new_customer property. It powers the New Customer Order event and new-customer reporting at your destinations.