Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Basics for Ecommerce Businesses

11 min read

One of the most comprehensive analytics services today is Google Analytics. GA provides a robust set of tools to capture and monitor customer insight so a business can improve site performance, grow revenue, and compete in new markets.

Google Analytics 4 is the latest and greatest in the Google Analytics offering, and we’ll be covering the basics of GA4 for ecommerce shops in this post.

So, what is GA4 for ecommerce? Let’s dive in!

What is Google Analytics 4?

Google Analytics is a web analytics service that provides analytics tools and data for website performance. It helps businesses and website owners measure traffic and engagement on their websites and apps. Many businesses use this data for marketing campaigns, SEO improvement, and to better understand their target audience and how they operate online.

When compared to the original Google Analytics, known as Universal Analytics, there are a few key changes to mention. These include the following:

3 user metrics (Active Users, Total Users, and New Users) with Active Users being the newest metric added. This metric refers to the number of distinct users who visit a website.
GA4 combines page views to include both web and app data, while Universal Analytics measures screen views in separate properties
Universal Analytics supports goal types while GA4 supports key events.

Learn more about these differences here.

Explaining Google Analytics for Ecommerce

Google Analytics has been around for years, but the most recent iteration (GA4) provides more data surrounding user behavior with downloads, video plays, and affiliate links.

Fortunately, GA4 was designed with ecommerce shops in mind. GA4 offers ecommerce tracking so online stores can better understand consumer behavior and the customer journey.

Within the GA4 platform, event-based tracking is utilized to gain insight into each user interaction on a website. Whether a website visitor clicks a button, views a page, or adds something to their cart, each action is considered an “event” tracked in GA4.

What sort of events can you track in GA4?

Product added to cart
Products added to a Wish List
Checkout initiated
View cart or view items
Product removed from the cart
Purchases made
Refund requested

For ecommerce shops struggling towards growth, these events and data points can help provide real-time data about how your customers shop. It will provide insight into the popular products your shoppers are viewing, whether they make a purchase right away, or if they come back later to finalize the sale.

Is your ecommerce shop doing (seemingly) everything right, but failing to hit your sales goals? GA4 could be the answer you’re looking for.

Using Google Analytics Ecommerce Tracking

Using Google Analytics ecommerce tracking for your website will drive sales, improve the user experience, and help your business understand exactly what customers want.

Leveraging shopping behavior and other data can help you improve your website experience, optimize product pages, and drive sales. Say a certain product gets plenty of views, but no one adds it to their cart.

You could try adding a more in-depth description of the product, including more information about specifications, measurements, or how to use it. Improving your product photography may also help. You can even offer a product-specific discount code to see if sales improve.

This is just one way that GA4 can improve the shopping experience and boost sales. There are so many ways to leverage Google Analytics to grow your ecommerce shop!

Benefits of Using GA4 for Ecommerce Stores

In an in-person retail setting, consumer behavior is much easier to track. In an online shop, it can be challenging to access this valuable data without ecommerce website analytics. GA4 helps to answer questions about customer behavior, product interest, and much more.

GA4 can provide feedback and insights about the following:

Popular products and website pages
Time spent on individual pages
Revenue-driving pages and products on a website
Where site traffic is coming from (social media, organic search, paid ads)
Percentages of new and returning customers to your site
Which devices are most commonly used to visit your website

With this insight in your back pocket, your business can adjust and improve your marketing strategies, website copy, design, product development, and more.

Google Analytics answers important questions about what’s working on your website and within your marketing channels, and what needs improvement. Once you have your answers, it’s much easier to make the necessary changes to increase sales and build a stronger, more compelling brand and shopping experience.

How to Set Up Google Analytics 4 on Your Website

To set up Google Analytics on your website, go to Google Analytics and click “Get started today.” You can set up an account in just a few minutes using an email address.

Once you’re signed up and logged in, navigate to the icon in the lower left corner.
Click on Create, then Property.
Share your website details and business objectives, and then select “Web” to start collecting data from your website.
Set up a new data stream that will track interactions and content on your website.
Follow the Tag Instructions to find your Measurement ID and install the unique tracking code on your website.

Google Analytics Ecommerce Setup

To set up ecommerce tracking, you’ll need to add event scripts and event listeners to trigger these scripts. Learn more about this process here.

FAQ: All About Google Analytics 4

Get all your questions answered about GA4 in this section.

Will Google Analytics 4 be free?

GA4 is available in both free and paid versions. The free version offers essential analytics features while the paid version, known as Google Analytics 360, offers more extensive data limits and advanced user support.

Is Google Analytics 4 worth it?

For ecommerce shops, Google Analytics 4 provides incredibly valuable insight into customer behavior. It more efficiently tracks user engagement through events, segmentation, and simplified conversion tracking. GA4 also offers a more customizable user interface for more productive use for ecommerce shops.

Is GA4 easy to use?

Google’s tools are powerful and effective, and have the ability to completely transform an ecommerce store. With that being said, the learning curve on GA4 is steep.

The reporting is not beginner-friendly and will take time for new users to understand. If you were using Universal Analytics previously, the navigation and much of the reporting are different as well.

Fortunately, Google provides tons of resources and support to alleviate the transition to GA4 for ecommerce shops and businesses of all types.

What is GA4 vs Google Analytics?

GA4 has replaced Universal Analytics and there are a few key differences to note. Primarily, GA4 data is all event-based, with any interaction on a website considered an event. These were previously considered “hit types” in Universal Analytics. Page View and Session attributes have also changed in GA4.

Why is Google switching to GA4?

As consumer awareness and concern around privacy exponentially grows, Google is taking the necessary steps to protect user data. GA4 does not rely on website cookies to operate—instead, it deploys event-based data modeling for measurement and tracking.

What is GA4 in SEO?

GA4 supports website owners in better measuring and analyzing user behavior on their sites. The event-based model allows businesses and bloggers to identify specific actions, like clicking a button, scrolling, or adding a product to the cart.

As you analyze key metrics, you’ll gain valuable insight into how effective your content is for users. The more effective your content, the more likely users will return to your site. As site visits increase, your website’s visibility and rank will improve in the search results.

Will Google Analytics 4 remove Google signals?

In previous versions of GA4, Google Signals was a tool used to capture demographic data like age and gender. Signals were used particularly for targeted ads and personalization in remarketing.

Google Signals data is still utilized in GA4, it just won’t be factored into how Google reports on whether or not a user is the same user across various devices. Signals are no longer used to identify users in this way, and Google’s reasoning for doing so is simple—user privacy.

Elevate Your Marketing with Ecwid

Powerful website analytics and measurement capabilities are just one step in creating a highly converting ecommerce website. Ecwid is here to help you every step of the way — from instant site creation to selling on any social platform or marketplace, we’re committed to supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses to reach their target audience.

Sell online

With Ecwid Ecommerce, you can easily sell anywhere, to anyone — across the internet and around the world.

Get started

Feb 20, 2024

About the author

Max has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last six years helping brands to establish and level-up content marketing and SEO. Despite that, he has experience with entrepreneurship. He is a fiction writer in his free time.