Google Analytics 4 Integration for Ecommerce Sites

A properly managed Google Analytics account has become a critical business tool for millions of ecommerce sites. Originally launched in 2005, it has undergone a number of updates since its inception. While most marketers have been using the version known as Universal Analytics for much of their careers, the latest generation — Google Analytics 4, or GA4 — (since 2019) will soon be replacing it.

In March 2022, Google announced that all standard Universal Analytics property events will stop processing new hits as of July 1, 2023. In other words, it will now become mandatory for all users to make the switch from tracking your existing universal analytics property data in UA to setting up a new Google Analytics account with GA4.

Google Analytics tracking is an essential component of any ecommerce website and its long-term success and growth, so it’s important for online retailers to understand and respond to these changes. In this article we will explain how GA4 differs from UA, the benefits of adapting to GA4 now, and other tips for transitioning to GA4 for enhanced ecommerce event tracking.

Should You Switch to the New Google Analytics 4 Now?

Change is always challenging, especially when those changes directly impact your ability to monitor the health of your ecommerce store. But don’t let the learning curve discourage you! Google Analytics 4 offers some fantastic new features that Universal Analytics does not.

Rather than dreading this change, online retailers should embrace GA4 as an opportunity to grow and adapt with the ever-evolving internet marketing world. As long as Google is at the helm, these kinds of major updates will continue to be the norm. Staying open to change is a part of any long-term growth strategy. 

The Wild West of Internet Marketing to Become More Civilized

What all of these Google Analytics changes really boil down to is this: the wild west of internet data collection is being replaced with a more civilized data stream collection system, focused on meaningful ways to collect data while maintaining privacy.

The biggest mistake Google made when they released the initial version of this product in 2019 was calling it an “upgrade” to Universal Analytics. This led many users to believe their existing data and Google Analytics reports would migrate over with them to GA4 when they enabled tracking for the first time — but that is not the case.

Run Your Universal Google Analytics Account in Tandem with the New Google Analytics 4

The reality is that Google Analytics 4 is a completely new tool with completely different metrics, meaning none of your customer or product data from Universal Analytics will transfer over. This is a frustrating realization for many ecommerce companies. But in this case, it’s better to rip the band-aid off quickly and proactively embrace this change.

Ultimately, adapting to GA4 will mean learning a whole new system. It’s as if an entirely different company had released an analytics tool to compete with Google; to use it, you would need to start from scratch and familiarize yourself with it. The same is true when it comes to embracing GA4 after using UA.

Since Google only tracks forward, it’s essential to set up Google Analytics 4 now, install your preferred analytics tag for your property, and begin tracking as soon as possible, in tandem with your UA tracking.

Why is This Happening?

There are a few key factors driving the implementation of Google Analytics 4. For one thing, Universal Analytics is a dated system (more on that in the following sections), and developers are having a hard time maintaining it and keeping it relevant as the internet evolves.

Moving to GA4 also allows Google to shut down the "free data for everyone" model that they have been using for over a decade. Google has stated that a few months after making the switch, you will no longer be able to access your old UA reports from ten years back. 

Finally, privacy changes around the world (like Europe’s GDPR law) have made Google more vulnerable to liability from enforcement of these regulations. It’s in Google’s best interest to remove access to Universal Analytics to survive potential litigation. GA4 has more user privacy protections built in, making it the safer option for Google.

Benefits of Google Analytics 4

Drowning in Data vs. Being Data-Driven

It’s true that tracking website data is a key part of any marketer’s growth strategy. But due to the overwhelmingly large pool of existing data collection and tracking tools available, it’s easy for marketers to find themselves drowning in data. Excessive data tracking can result in slowing down your site with bloated scripts providing meaningless data you aren’t even using.

Google Analytics 4 has some key features and parameters to add context to event data streams, helping users unlock greater value from their traffic and customer purchase data without getting bogged down with extraneous details. 

For even more data optimization, be deliberate about the tracking scripts you do employ, and only enable data collection for as long as the data provides value to you. As for the rest? Cut it out. For example, you don't need heatmaps for your privacy page, and you don't need ecommerce events tracking scripts installed on blog pages.

By using GA4 in this way, your business will be better positioned to make data-driven decisions without becoming overwhelmed by the vast amount of data layer variable tracking options available.

What's more, the upgraded technology behind GA4's data collection streams allows for machine learning models and powerful data crunching services to predict and measure like never before.

What are the Key Differences Between Universal Analytics and GA4?

Universal Analytics was built to track user activity on desktop websites. Therefore, the measurement model is hit-based — in other words, it tracks independent sessions, page views, users, and transactions. With time, this measurement methodology is becoming obsolete. Why? UA excludes other internet property types that are rapidly growing in popularity and importance, including software as a service (SaaS) and mobile apps.

Comparatively, Google Analytics 4 collects both web metrics and android app/ios app metrics, and combines all data layer variables into a single measurement through events tracking and properties. These are descriptors that identify what the event is, and what about the event should be tracked. This feature makes GA4 ideal for operating across platforms, including both standard websites and other solutions like SaaS, where the data you might want to track is less defined.

What does this ultimately mean for users? GA4 broadens the scope of internet properties and allows for fully customizable events tracking, which is not possible with the current iteration of Universal Analytics. It aims to provide actionable data for what is most meaningful for your business, and is less rigid on how it collects that data. 

To fully take advantage of this, it will be important to think about which metrics mean the most to your organization and to create events with properties describing those metrics before you begin tracking. While using Universal Analytics requires less forethought, its data collection model is less flexible and more limiting for ecommerce data users.

Create a GA4 Property Now in Tandem with Your UA Properties

Even though the sunsetting of Universal Analytics is still a year away, smart brands are setting up their Google Analytics 4 properties now, to be used in tandem with UA. Doing so will allow you to have access to this year’s data for year-to-year reporting after Universal Analytics is retired. 

Below are some expert tips you can follow to set up Google Analytics 4 for your ecommerce store. 

Decide Which Reports are Most Important for Decision-Making

As we’ve already mentioned, there is a big difference between being data-driven and drowning in data. To avoid the latter, decide which actions and reports are most important for your business and implement those right away.

GA4 offers some great new features that were not previously available through UA. For instance, it combines machine learning with structured data to make predictions about your audience behaviors, such as purchase probability and churn probability. These insights can help you make important decisions for your business.

Discover the Actions Available in This New Environment

As you continue getting acquainted with GA4, take the time to explore and discover which actions and reports are similar to those you used in UA, and which are different. Even if you can’t find the exact report you are looking for, you may find a new one that functions similarly.

For instance, bounce rate is no longer a metric used in GA4; however, there is a metric known as “engagement time” which fulfills a similar need. Though the data is completely different, the trends should correlate. After some time of using GA4 and allowing new data to flow in, you should be able to pull actionable, meaningful metrics.

Replicate Your Ecommerce Tracking Using the Pool of GA4 Events

In Google Analytics 4, events can be split into four main categories: automatically collected events, enhanced measurement events (designed to help marketers maximize the events in their reports), recommended events, and custom events.

When you setup your Data Stream name, you'll have the option to enable data collection for enhanced measurement or disable it. Enhanced measurement automatically collects user data layer variables for page views and other events.

Recommended events must be manually implemented to collect data (unlike automatically collected events) and are a great place to start. Examples of GA4 recommended events for enhanced ecommerce reports are:

• add_payment_info (a user submits their payment information)

• add_to_cart (a user adds items to cart)

• add_to_wishlist (a user adds items to a wishlist)

• begin_checkout (a user begins checkout)

• generate_lead (a user submits a form or a request for information)

• purchase (a user completes a purchase event)

• transaction_id (a transaction id is required for purchase events and refund events)

• remove_from_cart (a user removes items from a cart)

• view_item (a user views an item)

• view_promotion (a user sees a promotion)

Don't Forget about Linking to Google Tag Manager

Don't forget to integrate Google Tag Manager and link everything up with Google Ads. You can find tagging instructions and ways to update your existing tags to conform to new tag configuration protocols for GA4 here.

Create Alternative Ways to Track Users

You may occasionally find that there is no easy way to seamlessly track an event within the GA4 platform. If there are no automatically collected, enhanced measurement, or recommended events that provide the data layer variables you’re looking for, you can create your own custom events and mechanisms to obtain that data.

Google Analytics 4 also offers some additional features that were not available through UA that are especially useful for ecommerce businesses. For instance, while creating and tracking funnels is not possible in Universal Analytics, it is definitely something that can be done in GA4. Now you can better understand how effective your marketing efforts are as you track website users from visits to user clicks and more. What a better way to understand the customer journey and squeeze the most out of your brand's marketing budget with custom funnels.

Rely on Alternative Tools for Reporting

Unlike UA, Google Analytics is not a robust analytics reporting tool. That said, it will allow exports to Google’s other properties such as Google Big Query and Google Data Studio, which can allow for more advanced analysis of your data.

Additionally, a whole host of other GA4 analysis tools may make interpreting the data you obtain even more actionable. However, these tools will likely come much later in time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Google Analytics Track E-commerce Websites?

Yes, all versions of Google Analytics can be used for tracking an e-commerce website. That said, the names of several ecommerce events have changed between UA and GA4, so it is important to learn and begin using the correct GA4 event names. This will set you up for success as you monitor your ecommerce site’s performance.

Does Shopify Support Google Analytics 4?

Yes, Shopify merchants can use Google Analytics 4 to track their website data. The way you set up GA4 in Shopify will depend on which version of Shopify you are using. 

Shopify Plus users can install tracking codes on all pages of their Shopify store, including the checkout pages, by navigating to Online store > Preferences and pasting their tracking code in the Google Analytics field. 

Users of the standard version of Shopify can follow the same steps to install Google Analytics on all pages of their store, excluding the checkout pages.

Final words on Transitioning from Universal Analytics to GA4

Universal Analytics, while familiar, is not a perfect solution for ecommerce tracking in 2022 and beyond, as Google plans to sunset the platform on July 1, 2023. Though GA4 is not yet mature enough to handle the more obscure customizations that UA offered, it makes up for this deficiency in its ability to grow and evolve with the times. 

As ecommerce brands continue to take advantage of new types of online environments, GA4 will be the best tool to support their data-driven decisions.

Need help tracking, understanding, and improving your data? Whitecap SEO is the industry expert in search engine optimization for ecommerce. Contact the ecommerce SEO experts at Whitecap to learn more.