[Content]: Clarify (and possibly correct) checkout_id vs order_id

[aaronadamsCA]

What article on segment.com/docs is affected?

https://segment.com/docs/connections/spec/ecommerce/v2/

What part(s) of the article would you like to see updated?

According to this article:

• Checkout Started accepts only order_id.
• Checkout Step Viewed and Checkout Step Completed accept only checkout_id.
• Order Completed accepts both checkout_id and order_id.

My best guess is that this is a mistake, and Checkout Started should accept only checkout_id, not order_id.

Logically, the checkout ID should exist as soon as the checkout is started, whereas an order ID won't normally exist until an order is completed. This is the way it works with most e-commerce platforms.

Additional information

No response

[markzegarelli]

Hi @aaronadamsCA! Thanks for submitting this. The Product team agrees that the E-commerce spec should use checkout_id for Checkout Started, in place of order_id.

However, before making the change, we want to audit our existing destinations to ensure there are no unintended consequences downstream once the change is made.

I will leave this issue open for tracking purposes, and will close once we update the docs.

[joidegn]

Just checking if this issue is still pending or if we should now use the checkout_id for checkout steps. Is the documentation currently correct or should we follow the logic @aaronadamsCA lined out?

[erkie]

Any update on this? It's quite confusing what checkout_id vs order_id since there is no explanation what they mean in the context. Are they the same?