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Manual Merchant Attribution
When links aren't enough: how to credit a partner for a store they genuinely referred, and keep it honest.
Tracking and Attribution · ~6 min read
Not every referral comes through a tracked link. An agency recommends you in a client call. A consultant sets up the app during a store build. A partner tells a merchant your name at a meetup. The install is real and the partner earned it — but no link fired. Manual attribution is how you credit those honestly.
When you need it
- •Agencies who install apps for clients directly, without clicking a link
- •Off-platform recommendations — calls, DMs, in-person
- •Migrations where historical referrals need to be reconstructed
- •Fixing a missed or mis-attributed install
How to do it responsibly
Manual attribution is powerful and therefore needs discipline. Assign a store to a partner only when you have a real basis: the partner told you, the merchant confirmed it, or the agency clearly manages that store. Record why. The goal is to credit genuine referrals, not to hand out revenue on a hunch.
Get the store identifier right
Attribution matches on the store's myshopify domain (e.g. store-name.myshopify.com), not its custom domain or display name. If you assign by the wrong identifier, revenue won't attach. This is the single most common reason a manual assignment 'doesn't work' — and the same mismatch that breaks Mantle migrations.
Keep it auditable
When a partner or your own finance later asks 'why did this partner get paid for that store?', you want an answer. Note the source of each manual assignment. Honest, documented attribution is what keeps partners trusting the program.
Practical checklist
- ✓A real basis exists for the assignment (partner claim, merchant confirmation, or clear agency relationship)
- ✓You're assigning by the store's myshopify domain, not custom domain or name
- ✓The reason for the assignment is recorded
- ✓Revenue attaches after assignment (verify on the next sync)
Common mistakes
- ✕Assigning by custom domain or store name instead of the myshopify domain
- ✕Crediting a partner without any basis — attribution on a hunch
- ✕Not recording why a store was manually assigned
How this works in PartnerDock
PartnerDock lets you assign a store to a partner from the dashboard in a couple of clicks. Once assigned, the store's revenue attaches automatically from the Partner API from then on — you don't have to touch it again. It's the same mechanism we use to reconcile Mantle migrations where historical store data didn't carry over.
Try PartnerDock FreeFAQ
Won't manual attribution get abused?+
Only if you let it. Treat it as crediting genuine, verifiable referrals — the same standard you'd want applied to yourself. Record the basis, and it stays trustworthy.
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Why Most Shopify App Partner Programs Fail
The real reasons app partner programs stall — and the few things that separate the ones that work.