Customer Journey

What Is the Customer Journey?

The customer journey describes every interaction a person has with your brand before (and after) they become a paying customer. In marketing attribution, understanding the journey matters because it reveals how different channels work together to create a sale.

A typical Shopify customer journey is rarely a single step. Research shows that e-commerce shoppers interact with a brand an average of 6-8 times before purchasing.

A Typical Shopify Customer Journey

Here is a realistic example for a store selling eco-friendly home products:

1. Discovery: Customer sees a TikTok ad showcasing bamboo utensils
2. Research: Customer Googles “best bamboo kitchen utensils” and finds your blog post
3. Browsing: Customer visits your store, browses several products, leaves without buying
4. Retargeting: Customer sees a Meta retargeting ad with the product they viewed
5. Consideration: Customer reads reviews on your product page
6. Decision: Customer receives an abandoned browse email and clicks through
7. Purchase: Customer completes checkout

Each of these steps is a touchpoint. The challenge for attribution is deciding which touchpoints deserve credit for the sale.

Customer Journey Stages

Marketing typically divides the journey into three stages:

Top of Funnel (TOFU) — Awareness

The customer discovers your brand for the first time. Common TOFU channels include:

• Social media ads (prospecting)
• Influencer mentions
• Blog content from organic search
• Word of mouth

Middle of Funnel (MOFU) — Consideration

The customer is evaluating whether to buy. They are comparing options, reading reviews, and learning more. MOFU touchpoints include:

• Product pages
• Review sites
• Email nurture sequences
• Retargeting ads
• Google brand searches

Bottom of Funnel (BOFU) — Decision

The customer is ready to purchase and needs a final push. BOFU touchpoints include:

• Cart abandonment emails
• Discount offers
• Direct site visits
• Brand search clicks

Why Journey Mapping Matters for Attribution

Different attribution models value different stages of the journey:

• First-touch attribution credits TOFU channels (discovery)
• Last-touch attribution credits BOFU channels (closing)
• Multi-touch attribution distributes credit across all stages

If you only look at last-touch, you might think email drives all your revenue and cut your top-of-funnel ad spend. But without those initial ads, customers would never enter the journey in the first place.

Common Journey Patterns for Shopify Stores

After analyzing thousands of e-commerce customer journeys, some patterns emerge:

• Impulse products ($10-$30): Short journeys, often 1-2 touchpoints, completed in one session
• Mid-range products ($30-$100): 3-5 touchpoints over 3-7 days
• High-ticket products ($100+): 5-10+ touchpoints over 1-4 weeks
• Subscription products: Shorter initial journey but multiple touchpoints before the second purchase

Customer Journeys in Detectly

Detectly tracks UTM parameters from every session and connects them to Shopify orders, letting you see both the first-touch and last-touch source for each customer. This reveals the common paths your customers take from discovery to purchase, helping you invest in the channels that matter at every stage of the journey.