Nine Things You Need to Know About GA4
2 Min Read
Most ecommerce businesses rely on Google Analytics for tracking their most critical business metrics. Google, however, is depreciating the version of Google Analytics mostly commonly in use (Universal Analytics) for an upgraded version known as GA4. Here are nine things every ecommerce company needs to know about this migration:
Why: Google claims they are making this shift to give their clients greater granularity into the data they provide and consumers greater privacy protections.
Timing: Universal Analytics will be deprecated on July 1, 2023. But Google Analytics 360 users have a two-month extension to October 1, 2023.
Historical Data: Businesses will have access to their data in Universal Analytics for at least six months after July 1, 2023, but no new data will be logged there. Additionally, you can export your UA data into other tools (excel, Google Data Studio, etc), but you will not be able to import your UA data into GA4.
Data Layer: Your data layer will be automatically generated on the page via Google Tag Manager with GA4. Data Layer configuration in GA4 is different and none of the major commerce engines have out-of-the-box support for GA4 at this time. Customization is required.
Conversion Rate: Many businesses’ favorite go-to metric in analytics is not supported out of the box. You can, however, set it up with a custom report.
Bounce Rate: Like conversion rate, your bounce rate will not automatically be tracked in GA4. You can, however, set it up as a custom report.
Attribution by algorithm: GA4 handles attribution by their proprietary algorithms instead of basic traffic source attribution.
Server to Server Tagging: Server-to-server tagging is an option to explore to compile user behavior data accurately that complies with new first-party data rules. It’s something larger enterprises should consider though it will require additional service and customization.
Costs & timing: There are a few options to consider with the migration to GA4, including 3rd party plugins and data platforms as well as custom-coded setup, all dependent on your business requirements.
Director of Commerce Optimization at Corra.
Corra, a Publicis Sapient company, is the global commerce leader and SI helping brands and organizations grow by evaluating, building, and optimizing their digital commerce ecosystems. Our vast experience with composable and headless implementations speeds time-to-value and provides technical freedom to our clients. Our TotalCare managed services program provides gold-standard support, enhancements and ongoing commerce strategy. We are strategic thinkers, accomplished engineers, and award-winning experience designers. We believe outstanding customer experiences can’t exist without flawless technology, and that flawless technology is pointless without beautiful, human-centered design. Our clients are an integral part of our team. Together, we remove the obstacles that are limiting growth and discover new opportunities. We don’t rest until our clients achieve their full potential. Our clients’ KPIs are our KPIs. We have 20 years of experience in commerce technology, but we also know that customer expectations are constantly evolving. For this reason, we’ve built future-proof solutions and refined an agile execution process that helps our clients achieve more with less. As a Publicis Sapient company, Corra joins a global network spanning 20,000 people with 53 offices around the world enabling us to accelerate our clients’ businesses through designing and building the experiences and services their customers demand.
