--- title: "How STOQ attributes recovered sales" description: "How STOQ decides which orders came from a back in stock alert, and what counts toward Sales recovered." url: https://help.stoqapp.com/general/how-stoq-attributes-sales/ product: "General" section: "AI and tools" last_updated: 2026-10-29 --- # How STOQ attributes recovered sales > How STOQ decides which orders came from a back in stock alert, and what counts toward Sales recovered. STOQ credits orders that came from a back in stock alert to your **Sales recovered** metric. It decides attribution using a few methods, checked in priority order, with no cookies or tracking pixels, only UTM links and Shopify's Customer Journey data. ## How an order gets attributed STOQ checks these in order and uses the strongest match: 1. **Landing site UTM (high confidence)**: the customer clicked your alert link, so the order's landing URL carries STOQ's UTM parameters (`utm_source=restockrocket`). 2. **Customer Journey UTM (high confidence)**: Shopify's Customer Journey records a visit with STOQ's UTM parameters somewhere in the order's path. 3. **Sent-notification match (medium or low confidence)**: the customer's email or phone matches a notification for an ordered variant. **Medium** if the alert was sent within 2 days before the order, **low** if more than 2 days before. ## The UTM parameters on alert links | Parameter | Value | |---|---| | `utm_source` | `restockrocket` | | `utm_medium` | `email` or `sms` | | `utm_campaign` | `notification` | | `utm_term` | the message ID | > **Note** > > The source is `restockrocket`, not `stoq`, because STOQ was formerly Restock Rocket. It's kept for continuity with historical data. ## What counts toward Sales recovered Counts (high or medium confidence, order not cancelled): - Customer clicks the alert link and buys, even if they buy a different product. - Customer gets the alert, doesn't click, but buys within 2 days. Doesn't count: - Purchase more than 2 days after the alert with no click (tracked as low confidence, excluded). - The ordered product was never in an alert. - The attributed order was cancelled (removed from the total). ## See it in Reports [Image: The STOQ app Reports page with the 'Back in stock' report type selected (next to Preorders) and the 'Sales recovered' sub-tab selected among Products, Current waitlist, Notifications sent, Sales recovered and Customers, showing a table of attributed orders with columns Order name, Product, Total, Customer Name, Customer, Notification sent at, Type and Placed at, one row reading #1089, Pant new - XS, Rs.590.00, sneha@artossoftware.com, 21 Apr 2026 18:20, E-mail, 21 Apr 2026 18:30, plus an Export CSV button; with markers: 1 on the 'Back in stock' tab, 2 on the 'Sales recovered' tab.](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/how-stoq-attributes-sales-1.png) [Image: The STOQ app Reports page on the Back in stock 'Sales recovered' tab with a search and filter bar open ('Search orders' box, a 'Date range' filter, and an 'Order matching' filter dropdown expanded to show the selector set to 'All attributed orders' with a Clear option), above the attributed-orders table showing order #1089 for sneha@artossoftware.com notified 21 Apr 2026 18:20 by E-mail and placed 21 Apr 2026 18:30; a hand-drawn arrow points at the opened 'Order matching' filter dropdown.](https://help.stoqapp.com/images/general/how-stoq-attributes-sales-2.png) In the STOQ app's left menu, click **Reports**, open the **Back in stock** tab, then the **Sales recovered** tab. It lists attributed orders with the alert type (email or SMS) and send date. You can view **all attributed orders** or filter to an **exact variant match** only. ## How preorder orders are counted Preorder orders aren't attributed by UTM links. STOQ counts an order as a preorder when one of its **line items carries a STOQ purchase option**: the Shopify selling plan STOQ attaches, or STOQ's own tracking on the line. It's the purchase option on the line that counts, not how or where the order was placed: - An order placed through the storefront **Preorder** button counts. - An order you create in **Shopify admin**, or as a **draft order**, counts too, as long as a line uses the STOQ purchase option. - A **POS** preorder counts: Shopify POS can't use the selling plan, so STOQ's tile adds its own tracking to the line instead. An order with none of that on its lines isn't counted as a preorder and won't show in the Preorders reports, even if the product is in a preorder offer. (Some stores are also set up to count a plain checkout of a product that's in an active offer, without the purchase option on the line; this is off by default.) Preorder orders appear in [Reports > Preorders](https://help.stoqapp.com/preorders/find-and-read-preorder-orders/), not in Sales recovered. ## FAQ ### Does STOQ use cookies or pixels? No. Attribution uses UTM parameters and Shopify's Customer Journey only. ### Can I see which alert led to an order? Yes. **Reports** > **Back in stock** > **Sales recovered** shows the notification type and send date for each attributed order. ### Can I change the UTM parameters? No. They're set automatically so attribution stays consistent. ## Related guides - [Track notifications](https://help.stoqapp.com/back-in-stock/track-back-in-stock-notifications/): Follow what was sent and delivered. - [Engagement report](https://help.stoqapp.com/back-in-stock/back-in-stock-engagement-report/): See the funnel from signup to sale. - [View your reports](https://help.stoqapp.com/back-in-stock/back-in-stock-reports/): What each report tab shows.