# Shopify + Google Ads integration and analysis

Connect Shopify and Google Ads to Hendrik. Compare ad spend and reported conversions with orders and refunds before you increase your budget.

## The question this stack can answer

Ad results look better. Do your Shopify orders agree?

## What Hendrik reads from each source

- **Shopify:** Orders, refunds, payment status, product cost coverage, and location inventory show what happened in the store.
- **Google Ads:** Spend, delivery, and Google reported conversions show the Google Ads side of the question.

## What you need to connect

- Use one explicit 28-day comparison window, time zone, market, and legal-entity scope before comparing values.
- Connected Shopify order, refund, and inventory data for the same store and comparison window.
- Connected Google Ads account with spend and conversion reporting for the stated window.
- Keep provider-specific definitions visible and use an identity or product mapping only where it is established for this workspace.

## Important limits

- Declared UTM text is not a verified ad-platform campaign identity; cost coverage and provenance control any margin claim.
- Google-reported conversion value is platform attribution, not incremental revenue or a deduplicated business total.

## Illustrative example

### Ad value rose. Net order value fell.

Previous: 1–28 January. Current: 29 January–25 February. Both periods contain 28 days. Monetary values use USD and all timestamps use UTC.

*About this example: Synthetic data · illustrative analysis · Hendrik only acts with the permissions you give it.*

- net order value (USD, 28 days) (Shopify): 110,000 USD → 106,000 USD
- reported conversion value (USD, 28 days) (Google Ads): 88,000 USD → 105,000 USD
- refund value (USD, orders from the prior 28-day cohort) (Shopify): 6,800 USD → 9,200 USD
- Google Ads spend (USD, consecutive 28-day periods) (Google Ads): 21,000 USD → 26,000 USD

### What Hendrik checks

- **Order and refund cohorts:** Compare Shopify net order value with refunds by original order cohort. Keep paid status and the store currency visible.
- **Conversion and delivery settings:** Check Google Ads conversion actions, attribution window, change events, and campaign mix before interpreting reported value or leads.
- **Explain the divergence:** Shopify: net order value (USD, 28 days) changed from 110,000 USD to 106,000 USD. Google Ads: reported conversion value (USD, 28 days) changed from 88,000 USD to 105,000 USD. Compare the timing and definitions before attributing one change to the other.

### What Hendrik sees

Google Ads reported more conversion value as spend rose, but Shopify net order value fell and refunds rose. The store results do not support the improvement shown in the ad report.

### What to do next

Hold the planned budget increase. Check whether the rise in refunds and the conversion settings explain the gap. Reassess the budget once the order and ad reports use comparable dates and definitions.

**Limit:** Google Ads reported value and Shopify orders are parallel measures unless a campaign-to-order relationship is established.

## Provider documentation

- [Shopify documentation](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics)
- [Google Ads documentation](https://support.google.com/google-ads/)

## Start with this stack

[Create a workspace and connect Shopify + Google Ads](https://app.withhendrik.com/auth?mode=sign-up&acquisition_channel=marketing&return_to=%2Fonboarding%2Factivation&cta_location=integration_markdown&landing_page_id=combination-shopify-google-ads&combination=shopify-google-ads)