Amazon has become a dominant force in e‑commerce and advertising. In 2023 alone, Amazon’s ad business generated $46 billion in revenue, surpassing major players like PayPal and eBay. With so many shoppers browsing and buying on Amazon, understanding how off‑Amazon marketing efforts translate into on‑Amazon sales is vital.

Amazon Attribution is a free tool that gives brand‑registered sellers, vendors and agencies the ability to measure the impact of their non‑Amazon campaigns—like social media posts, search ads, display campaigns and influencer marketing—on Amazon sales. It tracks the entire customer journey from the first click to the final purchase, providing insights that can help advertisers optimize campaigns and allocate budget more effectively. In this guide, you’ll learn what Amazon Attribution is, how it works, and practical strategies to get the most out of it.

What is Amazon Attribution?

Amazon Attribution is a multi‑channel measurement and analytics solution designed specifically for advertisers selling on Amazon. It allows brands to track and analyze how customers who click on non‑Amazon links such as ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or email campaigns behave once they arrive on Amazon. The tool creates unique tracking tags that can be embedded in off‑site ads and links. When shoppers click those tagged links, Amazon Attribution records subsequent actions like product views, add‑to‑carts and purchases on Amazon.

Unlike generic web analytics tools, Amazon Attribution directly accesses Amazon’s sales and conversion data. This integration gives advertisers accurate, actionable insights into which channels and tactics drive real sales. Amazon Attribution helps answer questions such as:

* Which social media posts generate the most product detail‑page views?
* Are Facebook ads or Google search campaigns driving more add‑to‑carts?
* How many purchases come from new customers versus repeat buyers?
* What is the return on investment (ROI) for influencer‑driven traffic?

By providing this data at no cost, Amazon makes it easier for brands to justify their advertising spend and optimize their marketing strategies.

Why Direct Traffic to Amazon?

Visibility, drive sales and earn placements in Amazon’s search results. In 2020 alone, the number of new third‑party sellers on Amazon increased by 45 %, making it more important than ever to stand out.

Before Amazon Attribution existed, sellers had limited visibility into what happened after shoppers clicked external links. They knew how many clicks an ad generated, but they couldn’t see whether those clicks led to detail‑page views, adds to cart or purchases. Amazon Attribution solves this problem by providing a holistic view of the customer journey from initial exposure to final conversion. By understanding which channels and campaigns convert best, brands can shift budget to the most effective tactics, test new messaging and optimize the shopper experience on Amazon.

Who Can Use Amazon Attribution?

Amazon Attribution is available to brand‑registered sellers, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) authors, vendors and agencies managing brands on Amazon. Eligible users must be enrolled in the  Amazon Brand Registry and operate in one of the supported countries (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal and Egypt).

If you meet these criteria, you can access Amazon Attribution through the Amazon advertising console or via API integrati

API users, the Amazon ads API allows for automated tag creation and data retrieval, making it easier to scale campaigns across multiple channels.

How Does Amazon Attribution Work?

Amazon Attribution generates unique tracking tags (also known as attribution tags) that advertisers embed in off‑Amazon promotions. Each tag corresponds to a specific product and traffic source. When a shopper clicks a tagged link, the following happens:

1. Tracking the click – Amazon records that the click came from a specific ad, social post or email.
2. Measuring behavior – After landing on Amazon, the tool monitors actions like product detail‑page views, add‑to‑carts and purchases.
3. Attribution modeling – The platform assigns credit to the campaign that generated the click using a last‑touch model; a conversion must occur within 14 days of the click for credit to be attributed.
4. Reporting – Advertisers can view results in a reporting dashboard or export them as Excel files. They can analyze performance at the campaign, channel, publisher or product level.

Amazon also offers Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) for more advanced multi‑touch attribution. AMC allows advertisers to build custom models (first‑touch, linear, time‑decay or position‑based) that distribute credit across multiple interactions.

Amazon Attribution Features

Beyond basic metrics, Amazon Attribution offers several features that deepen your understanding of customer behavior and streamline reporting:

Full‑funnel insights – The tool helps you connect off‑Amazon advertising to on‑Amazon outcomes, revealing how different touchpoints influence brand discovery and product purchase.

Customer insights – Analyze how shoppers interact with your brand across channels, uncover new sales opportunities and tailor your messaging accordingly.

Downloadable reports – Export campaign, channel/publisher, keyword/creative and product reports as Excel files to share with stakeholders.

Visual dashboard – Customize the reporting dashboard to view the metrics that matter to you and switch between campaign and ad group data.

Conversion metrics by funnel stage – See which metrics correspond to awareness (impressions, clicks), consideration (detail‑page views, add‑to‑carts) and conversion (purchases, units sold).

Retargeting through Amazon DSP – Use remarketing audiences based on people who interacted with your off‑Amazon ads within the last 30 days. If you’re eligible for the Brand Referral Bonus program, you can earn a 10 % credit on qualifying sales driven by external traffic.

How to Set Up Amazon Attribution

Getting started with Amazon Attribution is straightforward. You can create tracking tags manually through the console or upload them in bulk via templates. Here’s a step‑by‑step overview based on the Amazon advertising console:

Manual Setup

1. Register or log in to your Amazon advertising console.
2. From the menu, choose Measurement & Reporting → Amazon Attribution.
3. Select your advertiser and click New order.
4. Select products you want to track and add them to your order.
5. Give your attribution tag a clear name and external ID, choose a publisher (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads) and paste the click‑through URL (your Amazon product or Store page).
6. Click Create to generate the tag, then copy and paste it into your non‑Amazon ads.

Bulk Upload Setup

For large campaigns, especially on Google or Facebook, the bulk upload feature saves time. It lets you tag up to **100,000 keywords or 8,500 ads at once. The workflow is as follows:

1. Log in and select New order → Upload file.
2. Download the Excel template prov

3. Upload the completed file. After processing, select Add products to link the appropriate SKUs or Store pages.
4. The system generates tags automatically, which you can import into your ad platform.

How Advertisers Can Leverage Amazon Attribution

Once your tags are live and data starts flowing, Amazon Attribution offers numerous ways to improve your marketing outcomes. Below are strategies and best practices drawn from experts and Amazon’s own recommendations.

Gain Insights into the On‑Amazon Shopping Journey

Analyze metrics such as detail‑page views, add‑to‑carts and sales to understand how off‑Amazon campaigns influence the on‑Amazon shopping journey. Use this information to refine your product listings, craft compelling product descriptions, enhance images and guide customers through the buying process.

Discover Valuable Opportunities and Spot Trends

Look beyond your promoted product. Amazon Attribution shows which products shoppers buy after clicking your ads even if
those products weren’t the ones you promoted. These insights can reveal cross‑selling or bundling opportunities, or highlight new keywords to target in your Amazon Sponsored Products campaigns.

Test and Refine Creative Assets

Create multiple attribution tags to compare headlines, images, offers and calls‑to‑action. By isolating variables at the ad or link level, you can see which creative elements drive the highest conversions. Use these insights to develop more effective ads on social media, search and influencer channels.

Optimize Ongoing Campaigns

Amazon Attribution’s near‑real‑time data enables “in‑flight” optimization. Monitor performance within two days of launching tags, then adjust budgets, bids and targeting weekly to amplify what works and cut what doesn’t.

Understand Your Audience Better

Tag links in social posts, newsletters and blog articles to track how your followers interact with your brand and how they shop once they reach Amazon. Use these insights to refine audience targeting, adjust messaging, and allocate ad spend to the channels that drive the most engaged traffic.

Limitations and Considerations

While Amazon Attribution is a powerful tool, there are some limitations to keep in mind:

Fixed attribution windows – For sellers and vendors, Sponsored Products default to a 7‑day attribution window, while Sponsored Brands and Displays have a 14‑day window. In the Amazon Attribution tool for external channels, the window is fixed at 14 days. Through the API, you can sometimes choose 7, 14 or 30 days for certain ad types.

Brand Registry requirement – You must be enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry and be a registered seller, vendor or KDP author to use Amazon Attribution.

Last‑touch bias – The standard last‑touch model doesn’t credit earlier interactions. Unless you use AMC or your own multi‑touch models, you may undervalue top‑funnel efforts.

Data latency – While Amazon Attribution provides near‑real‑time data, there can be delays of up to a day for some metrics. Always verify results against other analytics tools.

Limited offline tracking – Amazon Attribution doesn’t natively measure offline marketing channels (TV, radio, print) unless you direct traffic through tagged links.

Despite these constraints, the tool remains incredibly valuable for optimizing cross‑channel advertising and improving ROI.

Conclusion

Amazon Attribution empowers advertisers to connect the dots between external marketing efforts and on‑Amazon sales. By generating unique tracking tags and reporting detailed metrics, it fills a critical gap that previously left sellers guessing about the effectiveness of their off‑Amazon ads. With the ability to track detail‑page views, adds to cart, purchases and new‑to‑brand sales, brands can make data‑driven decisions that drive growth.

In practice, Amazon Attribution allows you to discover which channels deliver the highest ROI, test creative variations, and optimize campaigns in near real time. For advanced marketers, Amazon Marketing Cloud opens the door to multi‑touch attribution models that more accurately reflect complex customer journeys. Although there are limitations—such as fixed attribution windows and last‑touch default models—the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

If you’re eligible, consider enrolling in Amazon’s Brand Referral Bonus program to earn bonus credits on sales driven by external traffic and offset some of your advertising costs. By using Amazon Attribution alongside your other analytics tools, you’ll gain a holistic understanding of how your marketing channels work together and unlock the insights needed to scale your business on Amazon.