How Google Analytics data is combined with Shopify
Shopify is the record of what was sold. SourceMedium then adds attribution signals from Google Analytics and your other connected platforms, choosing the most specific and reliable signal for each order. The priority order is the Attribution Source Hierarchy. This fills gaps in both sources, so more orders get an attributed source than Google Analytics can provide on its own. Matching is still bounded by attribution windows and data quality. Discrepancies remain when upstream tracking is missing, delayed, or inconsistent.Why doesn’t Shopify/SourceMedium match Google Analytics?
Some divergence between Shopify/SourceMedium and Google Analytics is expected. Discrepancies of 10-20% between Shopify order data and GA are common, driven by subscription checkout handoffs, ad blockers, faulty UTM tracking, and other factors GA cannot see. For the full list of failure points and how to address them, see Common GA Failure Points.New vs. returning customers
Google Analytics cannot reliably tell new from returning customers because it does not have your full order history. SourceMedium ingests your historical orders and matches each customer against them to decide whether they are new or returning.What do (direct) / (none) and (none) / (none) mean?
(direct) / (none) means the selected attribution evidence resolved to direct traffic with no medium. It is different from (none) / (none), which is the fallback when no usable source/medium evidence is found.
High direct or no-source traffic usually means attribution can be improved, but the two values are not the same thing. See (direct) / (none) for the canonical definition and troubleshooting steps.