Pinterest Conversions API on Shopify

Tag and Conversions API: what each sends

The Pinterest tag is JavaScript that runs in the shopper's browser. Pinterest says it collects the page URL, referrer, device and browser details, IP address, a timestamp and Pinterest cookies when they are present, and that it can carry order value, product IDs and a hashed e-mail or phone. Pinterest also names its limits: ad blockers and browser privacy settings can block or limit it, consent rules can restrict what it collects, and it relies on cookies to identify people.

The Conversions API sends events from your server. In Pinterest's words it can take the same event data as the tag and more: hashed e-mail, phone and external IDs, server-side timestamps, order and product details, and custom parameters. The cost Pinterest lists is a backend integration, with hashing and user consent to handle.

For a purchase, Pinterest's API reference asks for:

• event_name set to checkout, the event Pinterest uses for people who complete a transaction;
• action_source set to web for a website order;
• event_id, a unique string such as the order number, also used to remove duplicates;
• user_data with at least a hashed e-mail (em, SHA-256 of the lower-case address), a mobile ad ID, or the IP address together with the user agent;
• the click ID where you have it: Pinterest recommends the _epik cookie over the epik URL parameter, because the cookie still works when the parameter is missing.

What Shopify's Pinterest app sends

Pinterest's help page Connect your Shopify store to your account says that with the Pinterest for Shopify app:

• your website is claimed on Pinterest;
• "the Pinterest tag and Conversions API will be installed";
• your Shopify product feed is connected to Pinterest, and Product Pins are generated from it;
• a store connects to one Pinterest business account at a time.

The same page recommends removing a Pinterest tag you added by hand, or through another tool, before you use the app, including its base, checkout and add to cart code. Pinterest's help does not list which events the app sends through the API and which through the tag, and Shopify's help on sales channels has no Pinterest page.

Your options

Pinterest's help lists three routes, with Shopify named among the commerce platform partners:

An app such as Tikra sends your checkouts through the Conversions API with your Pinterest login, or your ad account ID and a conversion access token, for a monthly fee.

What you need from Pinterest

An app with a key, or your own server, needs two things from Pinterest Ads Manager:

1. 1Your ad account ID. The Conversions API endpoint is tied to the ad account that sends the events.
2. 2A conversion access token. Pinterest's docs give the path Conversions > Conversions API > Set up API, then Conversion access token and Generate new token. The token is shown with your ad account ID. Pinterest's developer setup guide says to copy it straight away, because it is shown only once.

Pinterest's help says any business account holder can use the API without an app ID.

Count each checkout once

Pinterest removes a duplicate only when both copies carry the same event_name and the identical event_id. Its docs say that for a pair of redundant events "Pinterest retains the first event captured and removes duplicates within 48 hours". The tag's eventID must match the server's event_id for the same order.

Two separate senders, for example the Pinterest for Shopify app and another app, each make their own event IDs. Pinterest then has nothing to pair the two copies by, and each checkout can be counted twice. Three rules:

• keep one sender for checkout events;
• if a tag stays on next to a server sender, both must send the same ID for each order, such as the order number;
• after a switch, compare Pinterest's checkout count with your paid online orders, and look for a count above your orders.

On Shopify there is a catch. The Pinterest sales channel has no switch for its tag alone. Stopping its tag means uninstalling the channel, which also ends the catalog it keeps for your Product Pins. If you use the channel for your catalog, set up another feed first, or keep the channel and let it send your checkouts. Turn off the store's own tracking has the steps.

Also check for other senders: a Pinterest tag in your theme, in Google Tag Manager, or in a custom pixel under Settings > Customer events in your Shopify admin.

Test it

1. 1Send a test event. Pinterest's API takes test=true on the events request. Pinterest says test data goes to a sandbox and is not processed for reporting or optimisation. In Ads Manager, open Conversions > Test events to see that it arrived, with warnings for missing recommended identifiers.
2. 2Read the deduplication page. Under Conversions > Events Overview, click an event and choose Deduplication at the top. Pinterest says it shows deduplication metrics for tag and Conversions API events, and the share of events that carry an event ID.
3. 3Wait for one real paid order. A test event is not a sale. Compare Pinterest's checkout count for a full day with your paid online orders in Shopify for the same day.

Pinterest credits a checkout to an ad by its own attribution windows, so its numbers and Shopify's rarely match one to one. For a large gap, see Pinterest conversions not matching Shopify.

Or let Tikra send them for you: install from the Shopify App Store

How Tikra sends it

Tikra is a Shopify app that sends your paid online orders to Pinterest as checkout events, through Pinterest's Conversions API, as the buyer's consent allows. From Connect Pinterest:

• Log in or use a key. In Tikra, open Platforms and click Connect on the Pinterest row. Choose Log in to Pinterest, approve the access in the window Pinterest opens, then pick your ad account under Choose your ad account. Or choose Use a key instead and paste the ad account ID and the conversion access token.
• Checked before it saves. With a key, Save and send test checks the ID and token with Pinterest in its test mode before anything is saved. Nothing is recorded in Pinterest.
• You decide when it goes live. A login connection waits in the check before sending: Pinterest gets nothing from Tikra until you click Go live on the Pinterest row; on a plan that is one click, with no box. A key connection on a plan goes live when you save it; the window then asks for one tick: that the store's own Pinterest purchase tracking is off and that Pinterest then gets purchases only from Tikra. Tikra does not use Pinterest's own count to decide when to go live.
• A test you send. Click Settings on the Pinterest row, then Send test. Pinterest checks the event in its test mode and never counts it as an order.
• A record for each order. The Orders page shows what was sent to Pinterest, when, and Pinterest's answer, or why an order was not sent. See Reading an order's proof.
• Consent your way. Pinterest needs marketing consent. In Strict mode Tikra sends an order only when the buyer accepted; in Standard, unless the buyer declined. Pinterest keeps that rule in every mode. See Consent modes.
• More than Pinterest: Tikra sends to Meta, Google Analytics 4, Google Ads, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, ChatGPT Ads and Klaviyo.
• A guarantee: a written guarantee for eligible orders: at least 97 % reach each platform, fixed within 12 hours or a month's fee credited (Terms, section 8). Terms apply.

Tikra sends only purchases to Pinterest. Page visits and add to cart events come only from a Pinterest tag; they stop if you remove the tag.

Frequently asked questions

Does Shopify's Pinterest app use the Conversions API?

Pinterest's help says the app installs both the Pinterest tag and the Conversions API, and does not say which events go through which.

Do I still need the Pinterest tag?

Pinterest recommends using the tag and the Conversions API together for the widest coverage. The tag also sends page visits and add to cart events, and sets the _epik cookie a server event can carry.

Will Pinterest count my purchases twice?

It can, when two senders send the same checkout with different event IDs. Pinterest removes duplicates within 48 hours only when the event name and event_id match. Two separate tools rarely share one, so keep one sender for checkouts.

Where do I get the conversion access token?

In Pinterest Ads Manager, under Conversions, set up the Conversions API and generate a conversion access token. Copy it at once; Pinterest says it is shown only once.

Can I keep the Pinterest channel for my catalog?

Yes, but it keeps sending its own events, checkouts included, because it has no switch for its tag alone. Then do not add a second checkout sender. Or move your catalog to another feed before you uninstall it.

What does it cost?

Pinterest lists a direct integration as free, with ~2 to 4 weeks of developer work. Apps charge a monthly fee. Tikra starts from $99 a month, 500 orders, with a 14-day free trial. Installing it starts a free diagnosis that sends no orders.

Check your store

Send Pinterest checkouts from a server with Tikra

Check that your tracking works

Related: Shopify server-side tracking · Meta Conversions API on Shopify · Pinterest conversions not matching Shopify · TikTok Events API on Shopify · Snapchat Conversions API on Shopify · ChatGPT Ads conversion tracking on Shopify

Sources, checked 2026-11-08

• Pinterest Developers, Understand conversions and how to track them (tag vs API, recommend both, checkout event): https://developers.pinterest.com/docs/track-conversions/understand-conversions-and-how-to-track-them/
• Pinterest Developers, Track conversion events in the API (prerequisites, token path, parameters, em hashing, _epik, test events, deduplication within 48 hours): https://developers.pinterest.com/docs/track-conversions/track-conversions-in-the-api/
• Pinterest Developers, Conversions API setup skill (token "only shown once"): https://developers.pinterest.com/skills/pinterest-conversion-api-setup.md
• Pinterest Business help, Connect your Shopify store to your account: https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/link-your-shopify-and-pinterest-accounts
• Pinterest Business help, The Pinterest Conversions API (no app ID needed, token from the Conversions page, Events Overview): https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/the-pinterest-api-for-conversions
• Pinterest Business help, Validating your set up with event testing (Test Events, Deduplication page, event_id as the key): https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/validating-your-set-up-with-event-testing
• Pinterest Business help, Conversions API third party partner integrations (tag managers, other partners, direct integration, Shopify listed): https://help.pinterest.com/en/business/article/third-party-partner-integration-set-up-options
• Shopify Help Center, Online sales channels (no Pinterest page found): https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels
• Tikra help: Connect Pinterest, Turn off the store's own tracking, Consent modes, Reading an order's proof, Check that Tikra works.