What the Pinterest Conversions API is
The Pinterest Conversions API is Pinterest's server-side route for conversion events. Your server sends events such as a purchase directly to Pinterest, authenticated with a token from Pinterest Ads Manager. It's meant to run alongside the Pinterest tag in the browser.
One detail that surprises people: Pinterest's standard event for a completed purchase is called checkout, not purchase. If you see checkout events in Pinterest, those are your sales.
Why Pinterest needs a long memory
Pinterest is a planning platform. Someone saves your product to a board for a birthday or a room makeover, comes back to it a few times, and buys when the time is right. That can be days or weeks after the first click.
Browser cookies often don't last that long, especially in Safari. If the purchase comes in after the cookie is gone, the Pinterest tag can't connect it to the Pin. Saving the click on your server when the visitor lands, and keeping it, solves that part of the problem.
Device switching adds to it. Many people browse Pinterest on their phone in the evening and order on a laptop later. The click is on the phone; the purchase is on the laptop. Hashed email and phone sent with the server event give Pinterest a second way to connect the two, even when the click itself isn't on the device that bought.
What Pinterest uses to match a purchase
- epik: Pinterest's click id, added to your landing URL when someone clicks a promoted Pin.
- The _epik cookie the Pinterest tag sets in the browser.
- Hashed email and phone (SHA-256), which Pinterest calls enhanced match when sent from the tag.
- IP address and user agent from the visit.
- Order value, currency, order id and the products.
Deduplication with the Pinterest tag
When the Pinterest tag and the Conversions API both report a checkout, Pinterest uses the event id to keep one. The tag and the server have to send the same id for the same order. Settl does that automatically with one shared id per action.
If your tag comes from Pinterest's own Shopify app and your server events from somewhere else, check whether the ids line up before trusting the numbers.
Pinterest Conversions API on Shopify: judging Pinterest fairly
Pinterest is often the first channel to get cut, because in a short window its numbers look poor next to Meta or TikTok. With the Pinterest Conversions API on your Shopify store and the click kept for weeks, you get a much fairer picture of what Pinterest is doing for you.
A few habits help. Compare Pinterest campaigns on a longer attribution window than you'd use for impulse channels. Look at checkout value, not just count, because planned purchases are often bigger baskets. And give new campaigns more time to learn before you decide.
Pinterest also works well alongside other channels. Someone may discover your product on Pinterest and buy after seeing a retargeting ad on Meta. Each platform attributes on its own, so both may claim part of that sale. That's normal; compare the totals with your real revenue now and then.
How to check it in Pinterest Ads Manager
In Pinterest Ads Manager, open the Conversions section. You'll see recent events per type and where they came from: the tag, the API, or both. Place a test order and confirm a checkout event appears with the right value.
Over the following weeks, keep an eye on the attribution window you report on. Pinterest sales often land late, so a campaign that looks weak after three days can look very different after thirty.
Common mistakes
- Looking for a purchase event and missing the checkout events that are already there.
- Judging Pinterest campaigns on a short window when most sales come later.
- Sending checkout for unpaid or cancelled orders.
- Running two server sources without matching event ids.