Hey! Are you new to Google Analytics 4 and curious about GA4 e-commerce reporting?
Glad you came. We are here to help.
While you are here, you may want to read our other blogs about e-commerce and analytics.
https://www.analyticodigital.com/blog/top-e-commerce-events-to-track-for-shopify-stores
https://www.analyticodigital.com/blog/how-ecommerce-businesses-build-customer-relationships
https://www.analyticodigital.com/blog/important-metrics-to-measure-e-commerce-success
E-commerce reporting in GA4 comprises analyzing conversion reports, event reports, and other reports with conversion and purchase metrics.
You can learn more about the top Google Analytics reports here.
But there is a little glitch here.
You need to set up the e-commerce events in GA4 To find relevant data and reporting capabilities.
We explain how to do that and find and analyze e-commerce data in GA4 below.
Set Up GA4 E-commerce Recommended Events
The first step for getting e-commerce reports in Google Analytics 4 is to set up the e-commerce events.
GA4 automatically collects some events, regardless of the business type. But you need more than that to find meaningful e-commerce-related data.
For this purpose, set up GA4 e-commerce recommended events and custom events to collect the necessary data.
Here is a list of GA4 e-commerce recommended events.
|
Event |
Trigger when a user... |
|
add_payment_info |
submits their payment information during checkout |
|
add_shipping_info |
submits their shipping information during checkout |
|
add_to_cart |
adds items to their shopping cart |
|
add_to_wishlist |
adds items to their wishlist |
|
begin_checkout |
begins checkout |
|
purchase |
completes a purchase |
|
refund |
receives a refund |
|
remove_from_cart |
removes items from their shopping cart |
|
select_item |
selects an item from a list of items or offerings |
|
select_promotion |
selects a promotion |
|
view_cart |
views their shopping cart |
|
view_item |
views an item |
|
view_item_list |
views a list of items or offerings |
|
view_promotion |
views promotion on your website or app |
If you have any queries about our analytics services, get in touch with us to let our team of highly professional experts take care of your concerns.
Once the e-commerce events are set up and configured, GA4 starts collecting the data, you can find them in the e-commerce reports in GA4 or build custom ones in Explorations.
GA4 E-Commerce Reporting
Built-in GA4 Reports
Monetization Report
You can find plenty of useful information about e-commerce data in the monetization reports.
- Go to GA4 > Reports > Monetization > Ecommerce purchases, here you can find details about the items viewed, added to cart, purchased, and revenue generated from them.
- Stats are shown by default according to the Item name switch it to the Item category from the drop-down for a better understanding of the sales.
- You may add the Session source / medium dimension by clicking the plus icon next to the category column and selecting from the Traffic source options.
- If applicable, select the Item brand from the drop-down in the category column to find the brands that sold.
- Go to GA4 > Reports > Monetization > Purchase journey to find a closed funnel revealing the buyer journey.
- The table in the Purchase journey report shows the device categories by default. You may choose other options from the drop-down.
User Attributes
The user attribute reports give you details about the users, their engagement with your website, conversions, and revenue.
- Go to GA4 > Reports > User attributes > Demographic details to learn about the countries where your users are converting and purchasing.
- Add the Age dimension by clicking the plus icon next to the categories column to learn more about your users.
- Add the Audience name dimension to learn about the conversion stage of the users from all these countries.
Tech
Go to GA4 > Reports > Tech > Tech details to learn about the devices used for conversions and purchases.
Acquisition Report
Go to GA4 > Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition to find the engagement, conversion, and revenue data.
Advertising Report
The Conversion paths report in Advertising offers insights into the various touchpoints via different default channels.
- Go to GA4 > Advertising > Attribution > Conversion paths.
- Hover the cursor over a bar in the conversion path graph to view its related stats.
Exploration Reports for GA4 E-Commerce Reporting
Besides the default report, you can create a custom conversion report in Explorations too.
- Go to GA4 > Explore > Freeform.
- Then import the following dimensions by clicking the plus icon in Dimensions in the Variable tab.
- Session source/medium
- City
- Region
- Country
- Device category
- Next, import the following metrics by clicking the plus icon in Metrics in the Variable tab.
- Sessions
- Total users
- Conversions
- Session Conversion Rate
- Total revenue
- User conversion rate
- Engagement rate
- Now, drag and drop the dimensions in the Rows in the Settings tab.
- Finally, add the Metrics to the Values in the Settings tab and select the Cell Type as a Heat map.
You also build a funnel exploration report in explorations.
- Go to GA4 > Explore > Funnel Exploration.
- You will find the following dimensions by default.
- Event name
- Gender
- Country
- Device category
- First user medium
- You will also find the following Segments by default.
- Direct traffic
- Paid traffic
- Mobile traffic
- Tablet traffic
- Build custom steps in the funnel to better understand the stages of the conversion and the relevant e-commerce-related activity.
- In the Breakdown section, we entered Gender, enabled the show Elapsed time, and the Next Action.
For more details about creating new Segments, adding steps, and applying comparisons, read our detailed blog about creating a funnel exploration report in GA4.
Export GA4 Data to Create E-Commerce Reports
Other than the discussed options, you import your data to analytics tools like BigQuery or Google Looker Studio for in-depth and visual ecommerce reporting.
You can build an e-commerce dashboard in Google Looker Studio from scratch, adding data like
- Scorecards
- Geo Map
- Charts
- Revenue chart.
- Time series chart.
- E-commerce conversion chart.
- Gender chart.
- Add filters
- Source/medium
- Device Category
- User Type
For more details on how to create an e-commerce dashboard in Google Looker Studio, read our detailed blog.
Conclusion
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) e-commerce reporting involves setting up e-commerce reports and tracking and analyzing them in the default and custom reports.
To set up GA4 ecommerce recommended events, first, push a code in the website’s data layer.
Then, create a trigger in Google Tag Manager, a variable to define the trigger, and then a tag to fire up every time the website generates the event.
Once set up, you can debug it in the Preview mode in GTM and DebugView in GA4.
When satisfied, publish it.
You can find e-commerce data in the Monetization, Acquisition, User Attribute, Tech, and Advertising reports.
The E-commerce purchases in the Monetization report give details about default events in the conversion funnel, including the revenue.
Purchase journey gives a closed funnel report about the conversion stages, and the table offers demographic information related to those stages.
The Demographic details report in User Attributes provides additional information, including new and existing users and engagement, besides the conversion and revenue metrics.
Traffic acquisition in the Acquisition report gives more details about the engagement metrics for individual and session engagement besides conversion metrics.
Conversion paths in Advertising explain the conversion funnel stages graphically and in tabular form.
You may also create a conversion report in Explorations and conduct a detailed funnel analysis with the funnel exploration report.
Finally, you may import the GA4 data in BigQuery or Google Looker Studio to create visual e-commerce reports.
Like what you read. Learn more about Digital Analytics on our blog here.