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What CommerceTrace can and can't see

CommerceTrace is read-only. This page lists what it reads, what it does not, and what follows from that.

From Shopify

The app asks for one permission, read_orders, and sends read queries only. For each order in the period it reads:

• the order number, order ID and confirmation number, and when it was created;
• the subtotal, total, tax, shipping and discounts, and the currency charged and the store's currency;
• whether it is a test order, whether it was cancelled, and its payment status;
• the payment gateway names, and the sales channel or app that created it;
• each line item's name, SKU, quantity and discounted total.

It does not request customer names, emails, phone numbers or addresses, and none appears in a report, a share link or a CSV.

From Google Analytics

You connect GA4 with your own Google account and the read-only Analytics permission (analytics.readonly). CommerceTrace runs aggregate reports on the purchase event: transaction ID, date and hour, currency, revenue, tax, shipping, event count, and the site address the purchase was recorded on. These reports carry no user-level identifiers.

From your storefront

The storefront check visits the public store the way a shopper would: a product page, add to cart, the start of checkout. It looks for the view_item, add_to_cart and begin_checkout events along the way. It stops before payment and never places an order. See the audit bot page for how it identifies itself and how to opt out.

What it can tell you

• Which orders Shopify has and GA4 has no purchase for, with the evidence.
• Which orders carry a purchase with the wrong value, currency or a repeat.
• Which differences are expected, and which cannot be judged yet.
• Whether the missing orders share a payment method or sales channel, when there are enough orders to say.
• Whether more orders reached GA4 after a tracking change you marked.

What it can't tell you

• Why an order is missing. It sees the order and the absence, not the browser. It does not read your tags or Google Tag Manager.
• Which shoppers declined consent or blocked tracking. It has no per-shopper information.
• Anything outside Shopify and GA4. Other analytics tools and ad platforms are not read.
• Orders outside the period checked. The audit looks at the last 7 days, or 30 when those 7 days hold no real order.
• Payment details. Only the gateway name is read.

What it never does

• It does not edit your theme, tags, Google Tag Manager container, products or settings.
• It does not send data to GA4 or to any ad platform.
• It does not place an order.

Audit reports are kept for 90 days. Disconnecting a connection or deleting your data from inside the app is available to the store owner or a collaborator; the privacy policy has the full detail.

Why GA4 purchases don't match Shopify orders · What each verdict means