Cadence #19 - 8 key considerations for an eCommerce website GA4 setup

This week's Cadence comes from the sunny island of Mallorca!

As we have now entered July, and the brave new world of GA4 - a lot of companies and organizations are still having issues with their setups and ensuring the continuity of useful data in which the business can drive decisions.

As an e-commerce marketer, you know how vital accurate analytics are to your business. Google Analytics 4, or GA4, is the latest version of Google's analytics platform, and it provides a wealth of data to help you better understand your customers and optimize your store.

Implementing GA4 E-commerce correctly does require time and resources, however. To get the most out of this powerful tool, you must prioritize the key features and install them properly.

If you're looking to configure and setup GA4 correctly for your ecommerce business, but you're needing help - please feel free to reach out and we can help you.

GA4 E-commerce may represent a change from previous versions of Google Analytics, but the rewards of this updated platform are well worth the effort to transition successfully. Read on to learn how to get started with this transformative tool.

Connect Your Google Ads and Google Analytics Accounts

To properly set up GA4 Ecommerce, connecting your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts is essential. This allows you to view valuable ecommerce metrics and dimensions in both platforms, providing a holistic view of your customers’ journeys.

To connect the accounts:

1. Log in to your Google Ads account and go to the ‘Admin’ page. Select ‘Account access’ from the menu.
2. Click ‘Connect to Analytics’. This will prompt you to log in to your Google Analytics account. Select the account and property you want to connect.
3. Review and accept the terms of service. Your accounts are now connected. Data will begin flowing from Google Ads into your connected Analytics account within 24 hours.

With your accounts connected, you'll gain access to enhanced features in both platforms. In Google Ads, you can now:

• See ecommerce metrics like revenue, transactions and conversion value.
• Create ecommerce audiences and bid adjustments based on customer lifetime value and other metrics.
• Optimize your ads using ecommerce dimensions like product category, brand and coupon use.

In Google Analytics, you'll have access to:

• Dimensions and metrics from your Google Ads account like campaign name, ad group name, keyword, and cost data.
• Ecommerce reports that incorporate Google Ads cost data, allowing you to analyze return on ad spend and the revenue impact of your ads.
• Attribution reports to see how Google Ads interactions influence ecommerce conversions.

Connecting Google Ads and Google Analytics unlocks a wealth of new optimization opportunities and a complete view of how your advertising spend influences ecommerce revenue. With your accounts connected, you have the insights needed to maximize growth.

Set Up Ecommerce Properties in GA4

To effectively track ecommerce data in GA4, you must properly set up ecommerce properties. Follow these steps:

• Ensure you have a Google Analytics 4 property set up. If not, create a new property in the Admin section of GA4. Select “Ecommerce” as the reporting view.
• Add transaction information including transaction ID, affiliation, revenue, tax, shipping, and coupon codes. The transaction ID uniquely identifies an order and is required. Revenue, tax and shipping are optional but provide valuable insights.
• Add item-level details for each product in the order. Required fields are item name, price, quantity and item ID. The item ID must be unique for each product. Optional fields include category, brand and variant.
• Use the Measurement Protocol to send ecommerce data to GA4. The Measurement Protocol is the API that allows you to send data to Google Analytics. You'll need to set up server-side tracking to send ecommerce data.
• Check that ecommerce data is being collected accurately. Go to the Ecommerce section of your GA4 property's reports to view metrics like total revenue, average order value, most popular products and more.
• Set up ecommerce dimensions and metrics to analyze your data. Custom dimensions and metrics allow you to slice and dice your ecommerce data in meaningful ways. Views, filters and segments can also provide insights.
• Build ecommerce funnels to see where customers are dropping off. Ecommerce funnels display the path customers take from impression to purchase, highlighting areas needing optimization.
• Create ecommerce dashboards to monitor key metrics. Dashboards provide an overview of how your ecommerce performance is trending over time.

With GA4 Ecommerce set up properly, you'll gain valuable insights into how customers interact with your store and uncover opportunities to improve the customer experience. Continuously optimizing based on data analysis is key to success.

Make Sure Transaction Data Is Tracking Properly

Track Ecommerce Transactions

To properly implement GA4 Ecommerce, you must ensure that transaction data is being collected and tracked accurately. This includes:

• Confirming ecommerce transactions are being measured as events in GA4. The default event category for transactions is "Ecommerce" and the default event action is "Purchase".
• Verifying the transaction ID, affiliation, revenue, tax, shipping, and coupon codes are being passed as event labels. These allow for analysis of metrics like average order value and revenue per session.

Implement Enhanced Ecommerce

Enhanced Ecommerce, or EE, allows you to track product impressions, clicks, add to cart interactions, and more to gain insights into the customer journey and how products influence transactions. To implement EE:

1. Ensure the EE data layer is installed on your site. This will populate EE events and enable tracking product details.
2. Confirm product impressions are firing when products appear on screen. The default event for impressions is "View Item".
3. Verify product clicks are tracking when products are clicked. The default event for clicks is "Select Item".
4. Check that add to cart interactions are measuring when products are added to the cart. The default add to cart event is "Add to Cart".
5. Pass product details like name, category, price and quantity with each event to enable analysis of metrics such as conversion rate and average order value per product.

Measure Micro Conversions

Micro conversions like newsletter signups, account creations, and social shares should also be tracked as events in GA4 Ecommerce. This includes:

• Defining the specific micro conversion events you want to measure based on your key business goals and customer journey.
• Giving each event a category, action, and label to capture details about the event. For example, "Newsletter" as the category, "Signup" as the action, and "Plan Type" as the label.
• Installing the code to push these custom events to your GA4 property.

Tracking micro conversions helps provide a more complete view of how customers interact with your business and the path to purchase. Focusing on the customer experience and key interactions, not just transactions, is essential for success with GA4 Ecommerce.

Configure Enhanced Ecommerce for Product Impressions and Clicks

To properly configure Enhanced Ecommerce for product impressions and clicks in GA4, follow these steps:

Enable Enhanced Ecommerce

In the GA4 Admin, go to Data Streams and select your data stream. Click Ecommerce Settings and toggle on ‘Enable Enhanced Ecommerce.’ This allows GA4 to track product impressions, clicks, and more granular shopping behavior.

Add Product Information

Next, you’ll need to provide information about the products on your site. In the GA4 Admin, go to Ecommerce Settings and click ‘Create Product.’ Enter details like the product name, ID, brand, category, variant, and price. Be sure to use consistent product IDs that match your product catalog. Repeat this for all products on your site.

Set Up Product Impression Tracking

To track when products are viewed, you’ll need to add product impression snippets to your site. In the GA4 snippet settings, turn on ‘Display Advertising’ and ‘Enhanced Ecommerce.’ Copy the Global Site Tag and paste it on all page templates before the closing tag.

Implement Product Click Tracking

Next, you’ll want to track clicks on products. To do this, add onclick event handlers to all product links on your site:

`<a href="/product-page" onclick="ga('send', 'event', {

eventCategory: 'Enhanced ecommerce',

eventAction: 'Product click',

eventLabel: 'P1234',

eventValue: '1'

});">Product name`

Replace P1234 with your actual product ID. This will send an event to GA4 when someone clicks a product.

View Your Enhanced Ecommerce Reports

In the GA4 reports, you’ll now see ‘Enhanced Ecommerce’ reports under ‘Conversions.’ View product impressions, clicks, and checkout steps to see how customers are engaging with products on your site. Use this data to optimize your product pages and improve the customer experience.

With Enhanced Ecommerce set up properly in GA4, you’ll gain valuable insights into how visitors discover and interact with products on your website. Be sure to audit your setup regularly to ensure all products and events are being tracked accurately.

Track Product Detail Page Views

Track Product Detail Page Views

To gain valuable insights into how customers interact with your products, you must track page views for each product detail page (PDP) in your store. PDPs are the pages on your site that feature details about a specific product, including images, descriptions, pricing, and call-to-action buttons.

Measuring PDP views will allow you to see:

• Which products are most popular with customers based on view count. You can then optimize these pages to drive more conversions.
• How long customers spend viewing each PDP. Longer view times may indicate higher interest in a product.
• The bounce rate for each PDP. A high bounce rate means customers are leaving your site from that page, signaling an opportunity for improvement.

To implement PDP tracking in GA4, follow these steps:

1. Create a separate view in GA4 for your ecommerce data. Apply the ‘Ecommerce’ industry setting to this view.
2. Enable ‘Ecommerce’ under ‘Data streams’ in the Admin section of your GA4 view.
3. Add your product feed to GA4 under the ‘Ecommerce’ section in Admin. This will import details about all products in your catalog.
4. Place the gtag.js tracking code on all PDPs. The code should contain your GA4 measurement ID and specify an ‘event’ action of ‘view_item_list’.
5. In your data stream settings, turn on ‘Product detail views’ under ‘Ecommerce’.
6. View PDP metrics like total views, unique views, and bounce rate under ‘Behavior’ > ‘Product detail views’ in your GA4 reports.

Monitoring PDP performance and optimizing based on insights gained is key to running an effective ecommerce program. GA4 provides a robust set of reports to help you understand how customers shop your site so you can provide the best experience possible.

Implement Product List Views

To implement product list views in GA4 Ecommerce, you’ll need to set up the necessary data and configurations. This includes:

Defining Your Product Lists

First, determine what product lists you want to track in GA4. Common options include:

• New Arrivals
• Best Sellers
• On Sale
• Featured Products

You’ll set these up as ‘views’ in the GA4 interface.

Adding Product Information

For each product list view, you’ll need to provide details about the products appearing in that list. This includes:

• Product name
• Product image
• Product price
• Product category
• Product brand (if applicable)
• Product ID (to enable tracking of product detail page views and purchases)

You can manually enter this product data in the GA4 interface or import it from your ecommerce platform using the Google Analytics API. Importing via API is typically easier for stores with large product catalogs.

Configuring the Product List View

Once you’ve defined your product lists and added product details, you’ll configure some final settings for each view:

• View name: The name you want to appear in reports (e.g. “New Arrivals List”)
• View type: Select “Product list view”
• Product filter: Choose how products are selected for the list (e.g. newly added products in the last 30 days)
• Sort products by: The default sort order for products in the list (e.g. newest to oldest by added date)
• View URL: The URL where the product list is appearing on your site

Checking Your Reports

After your product list views have been live for at least 24 hours, you can check your reports in GA4 to ensure tracking is working properly. Look for:

• Views of your product list pages
• Product detail page views and purchases originating from your product lists
• Top products appearing in each list view

Make any needed tweaks to your setup and view configurations to ensure you’re getting the most accurate data and insights into how your product lists are performing. Product list views are key to optimizing the user experience on your ecommerce site!

Send Purchase Events

Send Purchase Events

To accurately track ecommerce data in GA4, you must send purchase events each time a customer completes an order. This informs GA4 that a transaction took place so it can properly attribute revenue and calculate metrics like average order value.

To send a purchase event, you'll need the following information:

• Transaction ID: A unique identifier for the order. This should match the ID used in your ecommerce platform.
• Affiliation: The store or brand associated with the transaction. For single-store sites, use your domain name.
• Revenue: The total amount of the order, including tax and shipping.
• Tax: The total tax amount for the order.
• Shipping: The total shipping amount for the order.
• Coupons: Any coupon codes used to discount the order.

You'll send this information to GA4 using the Measurement Protocol. The basic format is:

```

https://www.google-analytics.com/mp/collect?tid=GA4_MEASUREMENT_ID

&t=transaction

&ti=TRANSACTION_ID

&ta=AFFILIATION

&tr=REVENUE

&tt=TAX

&ts=SHIPPING

&tcc=COUPON_CODE

```

Be sure to replace GA4_MEASUREMENT_ID with your actual GA4 Measurement ID. You can find this ID in the GA4 interface.

Sending purchase events is crucial for accurately measuring revenue and KPIs in GA4. Work with your development team to implement purchase event collection as soon as possible after launching GA4. These events should be sent for both one-time purchases as well as recurring subscriptions or billing.

To maximize accuracy, double check that the data being sent to GA4 matches your source ecommerce data. Perform regular audits to ensure all transactions are being properly tracked in GA4. With purchase events implemented, you'll have a solid foundation for measuring the impact of your marketing and product initiatives.

Track Refunds, Cancelations and Revenue

Track Refunds, Cancelations and Revenue

Accurately tracking refunds, cancelations, and revenue is crucial for understanding your business’s financial performance. With GA4 Ecommerce, you can analyze key ecommerce metrics to optimize your bottom line.

GA4 Ecommerce allows you to view refund and cancelation data to determine how much of your revenue is affected. You can then take steps to reduce refund rates, such as improving product descriptions or customer service. Viewing revenue data shows you how much money is generated directly from your ecommerce platform. Monitoring revenue trends over time gives you insight into how to boost sales.

Some key metrics to track include:

• Refund rate: The percentage of orders refunded. Aim for less than 5%.
• Cancelation rate: The percentage of orders canceled before fulfillment. Try to minimize cancelations.
• Revenue: The total money generated from ecommerce transactions. Focus on growing revenue over time through sales, upsells, and cross-sells.
• Average order value (AOV): The average amount spent per transaction. Increasing AOV is an easy way to scale revenue.

GA4 Ecommerce makes this data readily available in the UI and the Reporting API. You can view high-level overviews on the dashboards as well as granular details in the reports. Built-in dimensions like product, category, channel, country, device, and checkout flow allow you to slice the data in many ways. Custom dimensions and metrics provide even more flexibility.

With a solid understanding of your refunds, cancelations, and revenue, you can make data-driven decisions to optimize your ecommerce program. GA4 Ecommerce gives you the insights you need to track the metrics that truly matter for your business’s success. Constant monitoring and improvement will keep your ecommerce revenue growing and costs under control.

While the transition to GA4 may seem complex, focusing on these priorities will set your business up for data-driven success. With enhanced measurement, customizable dashboards, and powerful insights into customer behavior, GA4 Ecommerce can transform how you understand and optimize the customer experience. Though the initial configuration requires an investment of time, the long term benefits to your business will be well worth the effort. Implement these best practices and GA4 Ecommerce will become an indispensable tool for driving growth through data.