tracking

Cross-device tracking

Definition

The ability to attribute a sale to a publisher even when the shopper clicked the affiliate link on one device, such as a phone, but completed the purchase on another, such as a laptop. It typically relies on account logins, deterministic ID matching, or probabilistic modelling rather than cookies alone.

How does Cross-device tracking work in practice?

A shopper taps an influencer's link on their phone while scrolling Instagram, browses the product, then completes the purchase later that evening on their laptop while logged into the same retailer account, with the sale still correctly credited back to the influencer.

Why does cross-device tracking matter more for some categories than others?

High-consideration purchases like furniture, travel, or electronics often involve research on mobile and purchase on desktop, so without cross-device tracking a large share of genuinely influenced sales would go unattributed. Low-consideration, single-session purchases are less affected since the click and purchase usually happen on the same device.

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