Orders often go through several statuses (e.g., placed → paid → delivered). The exact set of statuses may vary by project.
We need to consider this when setting up filters.
Use case 1
Find customers who placed an order in February 2026.
To filter orders by date, we’ll use order events. The key question is: which event should we use?
Let’s look at an example:
Order placed: February 28
Order paid: February 28
Order delivered: April 5
If you pull a revenue report on April 1 based on the latest event status, this order will be attributed to February revenue.
If you pull the same report on April 6, the order will now be attributed to April revenue, since the latest status changed to “Delivered” on April 5.
Because the latest event can change over time, filtering based on current order status creates inconsistencies in historical reporting.
Unlike the latest event, the first order event (Order Placed) is fixed and does not change. It provides a stable, reliable timestamp for segmentation and reporting.
That’s why we recommend to filter these customers based on the first order event (Order Placed).
The filter looks for customers who placed an order in February 2021 and who have completed, paid, or had their order delivered.
You can read about the statuses in the article.
The same rule applies when searching for orders.
Use case 2
Find orders placed in March.
Another reason to use the first order event is that a single order can have multiple events over time (placed, paid, fulfilled, delivered, etc.). Filtering by the first event (Order Placed) guarantees one unique event per order, ensuring accurate order counts in your filter.
