Our Shopify plugin offers a sort order based on product popularity using the recently_ordered_count attribute. This is especially useful for merchandising strategies, such as boosting trending or best-selling products in search and category results. However, sometimes this attribute does not appear or increment as expected after an order is placed. This article explains when and why the recently_ordered_count is updated.
The recently_ordered_count attribute is only updated when the order is marked as paid - not when it is just placed or fulfilled.
The Algolia Shopify integration listens specifically to Shopify’s orders/paid webhook to track and update this attribute. This means:
If an order is created but marked as "payment due later", the
recently_ordered_countwill not be updated.If the item is fulfilled without being marked as paid, the count still won’t increment.
The count only updates after the order is paid, whether that’s through an automatic transaction or by manually marking the order as paid in the Shopify admin.
The recently_ordered_count attribute is driven solely by Shopify's orders/paid webhook. If an order isn't marked as paid, the attribute will not appear or increment—regardless of whether the order was placed or fulfilled.