> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.higherfrequency.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # How credit is decided > Attribution means deciding which creator gets credit for a sale. **Attribution** means deciding which creator gets credit for a sale. This page explains the rules. It's written for brands and creators alike. ## The rule: last click wins The Freeq Growth Network uses **last-click** attribution. If a shopper clicks links from more than one creator before buying, the creator whose link they clicked **most recently** gets the credit. For example: on Monday a shopper clicks Ada's link and browses. On Wednesday they click Ben's link for the same campaign and buy. Ben gets the credit, because his click was the last one before the purchase. Only one creator gets the **credit** for each order: the last eligible click. What that order **pays** depends on the campaign's reward mode: * In a **last click only** campaign, the last-click creator receives the whole order commission. * In an **80/20 split** campaign, if another eligible creator first introduced the shopper, they receive 20% of the order commission. The last-click creator receives the remaining 80%. For example: Sam first finds the shop through Ada's link, then later clicks Ben's link and buys £100 of products in a campaign paying 10%. Ben gets the credit. In a last click only campaign Ben receives the £10. In an 80/20 split campaign Ben receives £8 and Ada £2, before each creator's own fees and reserve. See [Campaigns that share commission](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/creators/earnings-and-payouts.md#campaigns-that-share-commission). ## Which clicks can win A click can only win an order if: * the click is for a campaign run by **the store where the order was placed** * the order contains **the campaign's product** * the campaign was **active** when the order came in (or in its short grace period just after ending, for clicks made before it ended) * the creator was **part of the campaign when the shopper clicked**. If the brand removed the creator later, the click can still earn for a short grace period of about 3 days after removal * the campaign still had **budget** left If the shopper's cart holds several clicks and the newest one doesn't qualify, an older one from the cart that does can still win. A recognised, still-valid Freeq Growth Network discount code on the order is different: it decides the click on its own, and we don't fall back to older clicks. (A code we don't recognise, or one that has expired, is ignored and the other evidence is used instead.) ## How we connect an order to a click When a shopper clicks a creator's link, we record the click and give it a unique ID. When an order arrives from Shopify, we look for that ID. We check these sources in order and stop at the first one that gives an answer: 1. **The shopper's discount code.** If the campaign gives shoppers an automatic discount, each click gets its own single-use code. A code on the order points straight to one click. This is the strongest evidence. Only codes created by the Freeq Growth Network count, not the brand's own promo codes. 2. **The cart.** A small tracking helper in the brand's Shopify theme saves the click ID on the shopper's cart. Each time the shopper arrives through a new creator link, the newest click replaces the old one. If the cart holds more than one click, the newest one that qualifies wins. 3. **Shopify's record of the shopper's visit.** Shopify keeps a record of how the shopper reached the store on their last visit. If the link details were lost on the way (for example, an app stripped them), we can often recover the click from this record. 4. **The link itself.** As a last resort, we read the address the shopper landed on. Because this evidence is weaker, the order may need to come soon after the click (within about 60 minutes). > [!NOTE] > > **For brands:** the cart step only works when the Freeq Growth Network tracking helper is switched on in your Shopify theme. See [Connect your Shopify store](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/brands/connect-your-shopify-store.md). ## Recovering "lost" sales Links get damaged in the real world. Apps strip tracking details, shoppers come back later, or they use express checkout buttons such as Shop Pay or Apple Pay. Because we use several sources of evidence, a sale can still be credited when one of them is missing. Shopify's visit record and per-click discount codes are the main ways we recover sales that basic link tracking would miss. ## Repeat customers Commission is for **new customers to a campaign**. Only a customer's **first** order in a campaign earns commission. We recognise the customer by their email address. Later orders from the same customer in the same campaign are still shown, marked **Returning customer**, but they don't earn commission and don't use any budget. A different campaign counts separately. ## The "first touch" label Some orders show a **first touch** label. "First touch" is the creator whose link first brought the shopper to the store, according to Shopify's record of the shopper's journey. * Creators may see "You discovered this customer", "Your first touch this visit" or "Your click was the first touch". * Brands may see "Discovered and converted by…", "Discovered by… · Converted by…" or "Direct / unknown first touch". * While Shopify's journey data is still being prepared, the label says **Checking first touch…**. This usually takes about 20 to 25 minutes after the order. > [!WARNING] > > **First touch never changes the credit.** Credit always goes to the last eligible click. In a **last click only** campaign the first-touch creator isn't paid for a sale another creator won. In an **80/20 split** campaign, if the first-touch creator is eligible and isn't the last-click creator, they receive 20% of the order commission and the last-click creator receives the remaining 80%. The label only appears for online-store orders where the first-touch click belongs to the same campaign. ## When a sale can't be credited Some orders can't be tied to a creator. They show as **Unattributed**, **Attribution failed**, **Returning customer** or **Self-referral**. Each one has a plain reason on the click's timeline, such as "The products bought aren't part of this campaign". **For brands:** when an order from your store isn't credited, your campaign pages update straight away for everyone on your store's team, showing the new status. Open the order's click timeline to see the reason. ## The 24-hour retry Sometimes an order can't be processed straight away. Shopify might be slow, or a background service might have a hiccup. We don't give up on the first try: * Unfinished orders are retried automatically, with growing gaps between tries. * We keep trying for up to **24 hours**. * If the order still can't be confirmed after 24 hours, it's marked as not credited with the reason "We couldn't confirm the order within 24 hours". Shopify's visit record can also take a few minutes to be ready. We wait for it before falling back to weaker evidence. ## After the campaign ends A campaign that has ended gives a short grace period for late orders. An order still counts if the shopper clicked **before** the campaign ended and buys within the grace period. Clicks made after the end don't count. ## Orders outside the online store Orders made in person, by draft order or by other sales channels only count if they carry Freeq Growth Network evidence (for example a per-click code or a click ID on the cart). Otherwise they are ignored. ## Related pages * [Trust and fraud protection](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/how-it-works/trust-and-fraud.md) * [Holding periods and disputes](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/how-it-works/holding-periods-and-disputes.md) * [Earnings and payouts](https://docs.higherfrequency.io/creators/earnings-and-payouts.md) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.