Snapchat Tracking
Introduction
Snapchat bills itself as the fastest way to share a moment on the internet. Merchant’s that are advertising on Snapchat can use UltraCart’s integrated tracking to fire browser based pixels and report back conversions to the Snapchat platform using a robust server-to-server postback.
Change — subscription rebill reporting: Auto-order rebills are no longer reported to Snapchat as PURCHASE. They now fire on the custom slot CUSTOM_EVENT_1. Snapchat does not support arbitrary named custom events, so the slot must be labeled inside Snap Ads Manager.
Slot collision check: If you already use CUSTOM_EVENT_1 on your Snap pixel for another purpose, contact UltraCart Support so we can reassign UltraCart to CUSTOM_EVENT_2 through CUSTOM_EVENT_5.
Snapchat Configuration
First you will want to create a new Snapchat event source and obtain the identifier for the pixel. Documentation on how to create an event source is available here. After you’ve created the pixel, their system will give you a snippet of JavaScript code. Copy off the pixel identifier shown in the screenshot below.
StoreFront Configuration
Within your StoreFront navigate to Privacy & Tracking → Other → Snapchat. Paste in your Snapchat pixel id and then click on the connect button.
Subscription (auto order) event handling
Event mapping
Order type | Event sent to Snapchat |
|---|---|
One-time purchase |
|
First purchase of an auto order (subscription) |
|
Auto-order rebill (recurring payment) |
|
Rebill events carry the order's price, currency, transaction ID, and hashed email.
Why CUSTOM_EVENT_1 and not a named event
Snapchat's Conversions API does not support arbitrary named custom events. It offers five fixed custom slots (CUSTOM_EVENT_1 through CUSTOM_EVENT_5) that merchants label inside Snap Ads Manager. UltraCart sends rebills on slot 1 by default.
What changed and why
Previously, subscription rebills were sent to Snapchat as the same PURCHASE event used for brand-new purchases. This inflated purchase counts in Snap Ads Manager and fed the ad optimizer false conversion signals. Rebills are now reported on a dedicated custom slot.
Expectation-setting
After this change rolls out, the headline PURCHASE count in Snap Ads Manager will drop by roughly the volume of monthly rebills. This is the correction, not a loss of data. The rebills now live under CUSTOM_EVENT_1.
Merchant action required — two steps
Step 1 — Label the slot in Snap Ads Manager. Until this is done, rebill events appear in Snap under the generic CUSTOM_EVENT_1 label.
Sign in to Snap Ads Manager and open Events Manager → Custom Conversions.
Create a new custom conversion.
Map it to
CUSTOM_EVENT_1.Name it something human-readable like Recurring Subscription Payment.
Save.
Step 2 — Check for slot collision. If CUSTOM_EVENT_1 is already in use elsewhere on your Snap pixel, contact UltraCart Support. We can reconfigure your storefront to use one of CUSTOM_EVENT_2 through CUSTOM_EVENT_5.
Do not skip the slot-collision check. If a slot is shared, both data streams will be mixed under one label and optimizer behavior will be unpredictable.
Related platform docs
Snapchat uses a slot-based custom event because its API does not support named custom events. On Meta, TikTok, and Pinterest, the equivalent event is RecurringSubscriptionPayment. See also: Facebook Analytics & Custom Audiences, TikTok Tracking, Pinterest Tracking, Twitter Tracking, Taboola Tracking.
Monitoring Postbacks to Snapchat
UltraCart records all of the Snapchat postback events into the Integration Logs system. Within the integration logs you can monitor the data flow back to Snapchat and use the logs to troubleshoot any issues. If errors occur, they will be reviewable in the logs, visible in the dashboard widget, and reflect in the daily integration log health report sent out by email.