Facebook pixel

What is Facebook Pixel?

Facebook Pixel (officially renamed Meta Pixel) is a tracking script you install on your online store. The script records what visitors do on your site - what products they see, what they put in their basket and whether they complete a purchase. This data is sent to Meta and used to optimize your Facebook and Instagram ads.

The pixel is the foundation of effective advertising on the Meta platforms. Without it, you can't measure conversions, build retargeting audiences or use Meta's advanced optimization algorithms.

What does the pixel track?

The Facebook Pixel can track a number of standard events that are relevant to eCommerce stores:

• PageView: Detects that a user has visited a page.
• ViewContent: User has viewed a specific product (with product ID, price, category).
• AddToCart: User has added a product to the cart.
• InitiateCheckout: User has begun the checkout process.
• Purchase: User has completed a purchase (with order value and product IDs).
• Search: User has searched for products.
• Lead: User has signed up for a newsletter or filled out a form.

Facebook Pixel in Shoporama

Shoporama has built-in support for Facebook Pixel. Simply enter your Pixel ID (fb_id) in the online store settings and Shoporama handles the rest:

• Automatic PageView tracking on all pages
• ViewContent events on product pages with product ID and price
• AddToCart events when products are added to the cart
• Purchase events with order value on completed purchase

In addition, Shoporama supports Facebook Conversions API (server-side tracking) via access tokens, which provides more reliable data as it does not depend on browser cookies.

What do you use pixel data for?

Retargeting

Show ads to people who have already visited your online store. You can create audiences based on:

• All visitors (past 30, 60, 90 days)
• People who have viewed specific products
• People who have added products to cart without buying
• Existing customers (for upselling or cross-selling)

Lookalike audiences

Meta can find new potential customers that are similar to your existing customers. You create a lookalike based on your buyers, for example, and Meta finds similar profiles among its billions of users.

Conversion optimization

When you run ads with conversion goals (e.g. "Buy"), Meta uses pixel data to find the users who are most likely to convert. The more data the pixel has, the better the algorithm can optimize.

Facebook Pixel and privacy

The pixel collects user data and is affected by several privacy measures:

• GDPR: You must have cookie consent before the pixel is activated. Make sure to integrate it with your cookie consent solution.
• iOS 14.5+ (ATT): Apple's App Tracking Transparency requires users to actively opt-in to tracking in iOS apps. It has reduced the data the pixel receives from iPhone users.
• ITP (Intelligent Tracking Prevention): Safari restricts third-party cookies, which affects the pixel's tracking window.

To compensate for these limitations, it is important to implement Conversion's API (server-side tracking) to complement the pixel. Shoporama supports this via Facebook access tokens.

Setting up in Shoporama

1. Create a Meta Pixel in Meta Business Manager
2. Copy your Pixel ID
3. Paste it in Shoporama's online shop settings under the Facebook section
4. Add the Facebook Access Token for server-side tracking if needed
5. Verify in Meta Events Manager that events are received correctly