Understanding OCAPI in Salesforce Commerce Cloud

What is OCAPI?

OCAPI stands for Offline Conversion API — a mechanism that allows you to send offline event data (like in-store purchases, phone order completions, or CRM lead updates) back to advertising platforms such as Meta and Google, so they can attribute these conversions to the right digital campaigns.

When a customer clicks a Facebook ad and walks into a store two days later to buy a product, that purchase is traditionally invisible to your digital campaigns. OCAPI solves this attribution gap.

Why this matters: In omnichannel retail, 60–80% of digital-influenced revenue can happen offline. Without OCAPI, you are optimising campaigns with incomplete data.

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How OCAPI Works

The implementation follows a three-step flow:

[Customer clicks ad] → [Store purchase / CRM event] → [API sends data back to platform]

Step 1: Capture the Click ID

When a user clicks a Meta or Google ad, a unique identifier is appended to the URL:

• Meta: fbclid parameter
• Google: gclid parameter

You must capture and store these IDs — typically in your CRM, POS system, or a customer data platform — and associate them with each user profile.

// Example: Capturing fbclid from URL and storing in session
const urlParams = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
const fbclid = urlParams.get('fbclid');
if (fbclid) {
  sessionStorage.setItem('fbclid', fbclid);
  // Send to your backend to associate with the user profile
}

Step 2: Record the Offline Event

When the offline conversion happens (POS transaction, CRM status change, phone order), your system should log:

• The customer identifier (hashed email, phone, or the click ID)
• Event type (Purchase, Lead, CompleteRegistration)
• Event timestamp
• Event value (transaction amount)
• Currency

Step 3: Send to the API

Using Meta’s Conversions API or Google’s Enhanced Conversions API, you send this data server-to-server:

{
  "event_name": "Purchase",
  "event_time": 1710000000,
  "user_data": {
    "em": ["sha256_hashed_email"],
    "ph": ["sha256_hashed_phone"],
    "fbc": "fb.1.1710000000.fbclid_value"
  },
  "custom_data": {
    "value": 4999.00,
    "currency": "INR",
    "order_id": "ORD-20240315-001"
  }
}

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Implementation in Salesforce Commerce Cloud

In Salesforce Commerce Cloud (SFCC), OCAPI can be implemented via:

1. Business Manager Custom Objects — store click IDs against customer profiles
2. Order Hook (dw.order.OrderMgr) — trigger the API call on order confirmation
3. Cartridge Integration — build a custom cartridge to handle the API calls server-side

Key SFCC-Specific Considerations

Concern	Solution
PII / Hashing	Hash all user data (SHA-256) before transmission
Order Attribution Window	Meta: 7-day click, 1-day view. Google: 30-day click
Duplicate Events	Use event_id to deduplicate server + pixel events
Testing	Use Meta’s Test Events tool and Google Tag Assistant

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Real-World Impact: Kushals Fashion Jewellery

At Kushals, implementing OCAPI for in-store walk-in tracking had a direct impact:

• 37% ROAS improvement after accurate offline attribution
• Revenue reporting gap closed — previously 40% of store revenue was unmapped to campaigns
• Campaign optimisation improved — Meta’s algorithm now learned from the full customer journey

The implementation connected our Google Merchant Center Local Inventory Ads → in-store purchase events back to the respective ad groups, allowing us to confidently allocate budget toward store walk-in campaigns.

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Common Pitfalls

1. Not capturing click IDs on all entry points Many marketers capture fbclid only on landing pages but miss direct-to-store QR codes and WhatsApp flows.

2. Hashing inconsistency Always normalise data before hashing: lowercase email, strip formatting from phone numbers, then SHA-256.

3. Event deduplication ignored If both your pixel and server-side API fire for the same event, Meta will count it twice — inflating reported conversions.

4. Delayed sends Offline conversions sent more than 7 days after the click are discounted in attribution. Build a daily sync job.

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Conclusion

OCAPI is no longer optional for omnichannel brands. If your brand has both online and offline touchpoints, implementing offline conversion tracking is the single highest-ROI technical initiative you can undertake in 2024.

The data gap it closes transforms your campaigns from guessing to precision — and that precision directly translates to ROAS.

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Have questions about implementing OCAPI for your brand? Reach out →