---
slug: ab-wann-belastbar
title: "When are my numbers reliable, and what about my existing data?"
category: einstieg
locale: en
updated: 2026-10-17
keywords: ["reliable","meaningful","ramp-up","measurement start","historical data","import"]
questions: ["When can I rely on the numbers, and what happens to the time before installation?","When are the numbers meaningful?","How long should I measure before I decide?","What happens to my existing data?","Can I import old data?","Does Metrunio start from zero?","Why does “Direct” get so much revenue in the first weeks?"]
url: https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/ab-wann-belastbar
---

# When are my numbers reliable, and what about my existing data?

**When can I rely on the numbers, and what happens to the time before installation?**

Metrunio measures ad contacts and journeys from installation onwards; it does not know what came before and adds nothing for it. The split across channels becomes reliable once the click window after installation has been measured in full, 30 days with the default setting, and once a single order or lead no longer upsets the ranking of your channels. Orders from before can be imported with the Shopify app; they then appear as “unattributed”.

The day after installation, orders already appear in the portal. You should not decide anything by them yet. That is down to the calendar: someone who came through an ad two weeks ago and buys today appears in the journey with today’s visit only. Nobody measured the click before it. In the first weeks the last contacts and “Direct” therefore get a larger share than they would over a full month.

| What | From when |
| --- | --- |
| Individual events and orders | seconds to minutes after installation (see “How long until data appears?”) |
| Split across channels and campaigns | once the click window after installation has been measured in full; the default is 30 days, adjustable from 1 to 90 |
| Comparison with the previous period | for 7 days after two weeks, for 30 days after two months, for 90 days after half a year; until then it says “previous period incomplete” |
| Data-driven model | from 100 paths, 20 conversions and two channels within 90 days. That is an unlock threshold, not proof that the figure already holds |

## A check on your own numbers

There is no fixed number of orders from which everything is right; it would depend on your channels and your budget. The check works like this: mentally remove the largest single order or lead of a channel. If the ranking of your channels then changes, the period is too short or too thin for a budget decision. Take a longer period or wait a week.

## Your existing data

- Contacts and journeys from before installation do not exist. Metrunio measures from the first event and fills in nothing afterwards.
- You import Shopify orders in the app up to two years back. They appear as “unattributed” because before installation there is no measured contact their revenue could go to. They give you a revenue baseline, for cohorts for example, not an attribution.
- The platform sync fetches ad spend from the moment you connect the ad account. Older days go in as a CSV file (see “How do I import ad spend from a CSV?”); they count towards the costs and ROAS of those days.

> **Note:** The measurement start is the first contact Metrunio measured as it happened. Imported orders and ad spend loaded later do not move it earlier.

## Also asked

- When are the numbers meaningful?
- How long should I measure before I decide?
- What happens to my existing data?
- Can I import old data?
- Does Metrunio start from zero?
- Why does “Direct” get so much revenue in the first weeks?

## Related

- https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/wie-lange-bis-daten
- https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/attributionsfenster
- https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/vergleich-vorperiode
- https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/shopify-app
- https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/werbekosten-importieren
- https://bench.metrunio.com/en/help/shopify-berichte-und-metrunio