Starting July 1st, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties will no longer be processing data. This spells trouble for a lot of eCommerce businesses that rely on Universal Analytics to provide them valuable data about their online business metrics. Google Analytics is used to track events that happen on the online store when users interact with it. While a lot of metrics can be tracked, the most important of those are the eCommerce sales, which, alongside other key data points, can help you determine which business strategies produce the best results for your eCommerce website, as well as for your customers' online shopping experiences.
What is Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics 4 is a new property type which will be replacing all standard Universal Analytics properties. It's a major upgrade from Google which allows you to centralize your data, view reports and build custom graphs and charts to help you visualize the customer journey that takes place within your online store. Basically, it allows you to make the most out of your eCommerce website and identify the best possible strategies to maximize online sales.
How do you integrate Google Analytics 4 with Magento 2?
If you have an online store built with Magento 2, it's very easy to integrate the Google Analytics 4 platform with Magento 2 and start tracking all of your retail eCommerce sales, as well as other important eCommerce business metrics. This can be done manually, however, this entails quite a lot of work, or via the Google Analytics 4 extension.
What kind of Event Tracking does the Google Analytics 4 extension provide access to?
Note: The Google Analytics 4 extension is not compatible with Universal Analytics or vice-versa. If you're keen to keep using standard Universal Analytics properties until they're officially decommissioned, we have an extension built specifically for those as well.
The extension comes in two versions and the integration, in both cases, is done via Google Tag Manager:
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The Standard Version, which allows for client-side Google Analytics 4 Event Tracking. This means events are sent to Google Analytics 4 via the dataLayer.
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The PRO Version, which allows for server-side Google Analytics 4 Event Tracking. This method of Event Tracking involves sending event data via Measurement Protocol. More details about that can be found in this blog post.
eCommerce Event Tracking available in the Standard Version of the Google Analytics 4 Extension
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View Item List (view_item_list) - This event is triggered when a user views a list of items, such as your Category Page, or a Product Carousel.
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View Item (view_item) - This event is triggered when users open up and view one of your Product Pages.
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View Promotion (view_promotion) - This event is triggered when a user views a block, banner or piece of content tagged as a Promotion.
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Select Item (select_item) - This event is triggered when a user clicks on a product contained within a list, such as on your Category Page or a Product Carousel.
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Select Promotion (select_promotion) - This event is triggered when a user clicks on a link contained within a block, banner or piece of content tagged as a Promotion.
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Add to Cart (add_to_cart) - This event is triggered whenever a user adds a product to their cart, or when they add to the quantity of a product that's already within their cart.
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Remove from Cart (remove_from_cart) - This event is triggered whenever a user removes a product from their cart, or when they subtract from the quantity of a product that's already within their cart.
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Add to Wishlist (add_to_wishlist) - This event is triggered whenever a user adds a product into their wishlist.
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Begin Checkout (begin_checkout) - This event is triggered whenever a user proceeds to the Checkout Page.
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Add Shipping Info (add_shipping_info) - This event is triggered whenever a user adds their address information on the Checkout Page.
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Add Payment Info (add_payment_info) - This event is triggered whenever a user adds their payment information. Note: When using the default Magento 2 Checkout, this event is triggered upon the user pressing the Place Order button, so it may not show up in the Preview Mode, if you're troubleshooting the event tracking.
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Purchase (purchase) - This event is triggered when a user has placed an order and is redirected to the Success Page.
In the case of the Standard Version of the Google Analytics 4 Extension, each of these events is sent to Google Analytics 4 client-side, via the dataLayer and Google Tag Manager Tags.
eCommerce Event Tracking available in the PRO Version of the Google Analytics 4 Extension
The PRO version of the extension can track all of the same events that the Standard Version can, as well as a few extra ones. The difference is the way the tracking is done, as the PRO version allows you to make use of Measurement Protocol, which sends event tracking data server-side, thus bypassing many limitations that the client-side tracking suffers from. This was available for standard Universal Analytics properties as well, Google Analytics 4 brings it to the next level.
Here's a list of the events that can be tracked server-side:
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Sign Up - This event is triggered when a user creates an account.
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Log In - This event is triggered when a user logs into their account.
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Search - This event is triggered when a user submits a query using the store's search functionality.
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View Item List (view_item_list) - This event is triggered when a user views a list of items, such as your Category Page, or a Product Carousel.
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View Item (view_item) - This event is triggered when users open up and view one of your Product Pages.
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Select Item (select_item) - This event is triggered when a user clicks on a product contained within a list, such as on your Category Page or a Product Carousel.
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Add to Cart (add_to_cart) - This event is triggered whenever a user adds a product to their cart, or when they add to the quantity of a product that's already within their cart.
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Remove from Cart (remove_from_cart) - This event is triggered whenever a user removes a product from their cart, or when they subtract from the quantity of a product that's already within their cart.
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View Cart (view_cart) - This event is triggered when a user navigates to the Cart Page.
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Add to Wishlist (add_to_wishlist) - This event is triggered whenever a user adds a product into their wishlist.
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Begin Checkout (begin_checkout) - This event is triggered whenever a user proceeds to the Checkout Page.
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Add Shipping Info (add_shipping_info) - This event is triggered whenever a user adds their address information on the Checkout Page.
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Add Payment Info (add_payment_info) - This event is triggered whenever a user adds their payment information. Note: When using the default Magento 2 Checkout, this event is triggered upon the user pressing the Place Order button, so it may not show up in the Preview Mode, if you're troubleshooting the event tracking.
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Purchase (purchase) - This event is triggered when a user has placed an order and is redirected to the Success Page.
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Refund (refund) - This event is triggered when a Credit Memo is created via the Magento 2 Admin.
Due to the event tracking happening server-side, all of these eCommerce Events can be tracked with 100% accuracy, as they are unhindered by normal client-side limitations and obstacles. This makes the Google Analytics 4 PRO extension an invaluable tool to have at your disposal, especially considering the fact that privacy controls, Ad-Blocker extensions, Cookie Restrictions and browser limitations becoming more and more strict.