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Overview

Subtotal’s platform is built around permissioned connections between shoppers, brands, and retailers. At its core, Subtotal helps brands connect with retail shoppers and access first-party purchase data that can be used to power loyalty, marketing, analytics, and more. This page introduces the key concepts that appear throughout the Subtotal platform and documentation.

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Connections

A connection represents the relationship between:
  • a shopper
  • a retailer account
  • and a brand
Connections are created when a shopper successfully links a retailer account to a brand’s app or website using Subtotal Link.

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Purchases

A purchase represents a completed transaction from a connected retailer account. Each purchase includes structured metadata describing the full details of the transaction:
  • Identifiers (purchase ID, retailer, connection ID)
  • Timestamps (order date, fulfillment date when available)
  • Transaction totals (subtotal, tax, discounts, shipping, total)
  • Items (product name, brand, upc, quantity, price, and other metadata)
Subtotal continuously syncs new purchases from connected retailer accounts and evaluates each one in real time against a consumer’s sharing preferences. When a purchase is eligible, it becomes available to brands as verified retail purchase data.

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Events

Subtotal turns purchases and account activity into events. Events are the primary way Subtotal communicates activity to downstream systems and integrations. Examples include:
  • a shopper connecting a retailer account
  • a qualifying purchase being detected
  • a retailer account requiring re-authentication
Events can be delivered in real time and are used to power workflows such as loyalty rewards, personalized messaging, analytics updates, and more.

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Integrations

An integration connects Subtotal to an external system, such as a marketing platform, loyalty provider, data warehouse, or internal service. Integrations allow teams to activate purchase data without building custom infrastructure. For example, brands can use Subtotal integrations to trigger flows in email or SMS tools, update customer profiles, or sync data into analytics platforms.

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API and webhooks

The Subtotal API provides programmatic access to core platform functionality, including managing connections and accessing purchase data. Webhooks allow Subtotal to push real-time events to your systems as they occur, enabling event-driven architectures and timely customer experiences.

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Putting it all together

At a high level, Subtotal works like this:
  1. A shopper connects a retailer account to a brand using Subtotal
  2. Subtotal detects purchases made through that account
  3. Purchases are matched to brand products
  4. Activity is emitted as real-time events
  5. Brands use those events to power engagement, loyalty, and insights
These concepts appear throughout the documentation and platform. As you continue, you’ll see how they apply to specific integrations, APIs, and use cases.