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In the ever-expanding world of e-commerce, understanding customer behavior and optimizing your online store is crucial. With the depreciation of Universal Analytics and the birth of Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you will be forced to integrate the new Google Analytics platform with Shopify if you want to best optimise your analytics from your online store. GA4 is a powerful tool that provides valuable insights, but integrating it with platforms like Shopify can sometimes be challenging. In this blog post, we’ll explore common issues faced during the integration of Google Analytics 4 with Shopify and point out key areas where you should be aware of.
Incorrect GA4 Implementation
One of the primary issues users use is the native integration between GA4 and Shopify. As a result, it can produce inaccurate data collection. Discrepancies between Shopify and GA4 data can occur due to various reasons such as ad blockers, server-side tracking, or incorrect configuration. A common issue here is the mismatching of Order IDs.
If the GA4 tracking code is used and not installed correctly on your Shopify store, data won’t be tracked accurately. This could lead to incorrect Purchase and Checkout Funnels and analysing specific items.
Missing E Commerce Events
Another common issue we see across a span of our clients are missing key ecommerce events that will significantly hinder your analytics on customer behaviour. These events include, view_items, add_to_ cart, view_item_list, etc, and vary depending on the store’s setup. These missing key events issues are most commonly seen in Shopify’s native GA4 integration and will break your ecommerce funnel.
Incorrect and Missing Crucial data on Item Level
When implementing your GA4 tracking within Shopify, it would be ideal for GA4 to receive as much detailed data as possible from the ecommerce events. If this data is missing or incorrect, it can represent a misleading view of your data which will significantly impact your insights.
When using the native integration these are few common problems we see on an Item level:
Missing coupon codes in the purchase event, which leads to the disability to track coupon code performance
The way revenue is calculated could be different from your initial calculations.
Missing item_brand data
Missing item_variant data which leads to the disability to measure Item and Variant Performance
Transitioning from Universal analytics and integrating Google Analytics 4 with Shopify offers invaluable insights into your online business. By being aware of these common challenges and their solutions, you can optimize your GA4 and Shopify integration, enabling you to make data-driven decisions and enhance your online store’s performance. To avoid these issues, you will consistently need to test the ecommerce events as well as checking the data is correct on an item level. Stay vigilant, keep your tracking codes up-to-date, and refer to official documentation when in doubt. If you are still having trouble setting up Shopify tracking on GA4, feel free to reach out to us below! Happy tracking!
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