Tracking & Attribution
How TouchDrop tracks postcard performance, attributes conversions, and measures incremental lift from your direct mail campaigns.
QR Code Generation
Every postcard mailed through TouchDrop includes a unique QR code that links back to your store. This is how you track which recipients engage with your campaign.
Unique Per Recipient
Each recipient gets their own discount code (e.g. LM-CA-A1B2C3) and a unique QR code that encodes a tracking URL.
Tracking URL Format
The QR code points to a short tracking URL like touchdrop.com.au/t/LM-CA-A1B2C3 which records the scan and redirects to your store.
How codes are generated
Discount codes follow a simple format: your chosen prefix plus a unique random code. You can set a custom prefix per campaign (e.g. SAVE15), otherwise TouchDrop generates one automatically. Each code is unique to the recipient.
Scan Flow & Redirect
When a recipient scans the QR code on their postcard, here is what happens step by step.
1. Recipient scans the QR code
Their phone camera reads the QR code and opens the tracking URL in their browser.
2. Scan event is recorded
TouchDrop records the scan so you can see who engaged with your postcard.
3. Redirect to your store
The recipient is redirected to your Shopify store with the discount code automatically applied via the /discount/ URL path.
4. Analytics tracking included
The redirect URL includes UTM parameters so your direct mail campaigns show up in Google Analytics alongside your other channels.
Attribution Methods
TouchDrop uses two methods to attribute orders to your postcard campaigns. Both are checked automatically when you import order data.
Discount Code Match Direct
When a customer places an order using the unique discount code from their postcard, that order is directly attributed to the campaign. This is the strongest form of attribution.
Customer Email Match Influenced
If a customer who received a postcard places an order within the attribution window — even without using the discount code — the order is attributed as “influenced” by matching email address.
Attribution priority
Discount code matches take priority. If an order matches both a discount code and a customer email, it is attributed as a direct conversion, not counted twice.
Attribution Window
The attribution window defines how long after a postcard is delivered an order can still be attributed to that campaign.
Default: 60 days
By default, the attribution window is 60 days from the expected delivery date. This accounts for the time it takes for recipients to act on the postcard.
Configurable per campaign
You can adjust the window when creating or editing a campaign. Shorter windows give more conservative results; longer windows capture more late conversions.
How delivery is estimated
Expected delivery is calculated as the send date plus transit time (default 5 days for Australian mail). The attribution window starts from this estimated delivery date.
Holdout Testing
Holdout testing lets you measure the true incremental impact of your postcards by comparing recipients who received a card against those who did not.
What is a holdout group?
A holdout group is a percentage of your campaign audience randomly selected to not receive a postcard. These recipients are tracked (marked as “holdout”) but no card is printed. This lets you compare their purchase behaviour against recipients who did receive a card.
How recipients are assigned
You set a holdout percentage (e.g. 10%) when creating a campaign. Recipients are randomly assigned to the holdout group based on this percentage. The default is 0% — opt in to use this feature.
How lift is calculated
Lift = (Treatment Rate − Holdout Rate) / Holdout Rate × 100%
TouchDrop also calculates incremental ROAS: how much additional revenue the postcards generated compared to what would have happened without them.
Statistical significance
- Results marked as “statistically significant” when there’s 95%+ confidence the postcards drove real results.
- We recommend a holdout of at least 10% with 500+ total recipients for meaningful results.
Reading Your Reports
The campaign detail page and reports section show your tracking data. Here is what the key metrics mean.
Total Sent
The number of postcards actually printed and mailed (excludes holdout recipients).
QR Scans
How many times recipients scanned the QR code on their postcard. One recipient may scan multiple times.
Attributed Orders
Orders matched to this campaign via discount code or customer email within the attribution window.
Attributed Revenue
Total revenue from attributed orders. Shown separately for direct (discount code) and influenced (email match) attribution.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of mailed recipients who made an attributed purchase.
ROAS
Return on ad spend. Total attributed revenue divided by total campaign cost (postage + per-piece fees).
Exporting data
You can export attributed orders as a CSV from the campaign detail page. Includes order ID, customer email, revenue, discount code used, attribution method, and order date.