Moving from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4: What’s in it for eCommerce

Released in October 2020, Google Analytics 4 is Google’s newest generation of analytics and tracking software. Standard Universal Analytics properties will no longer process data on July 1, 2023. After July 1, 2023, you’ll be able to read your Universal Analytics reports for a period of time; however, new data will only be sent to Google Analytics 4 properties.

Google’s latest iteration of Analytics, referring to GA4, is a “new sort of property” that enables more tracking and reporting options. It gives you a complete view of how users interact with your brand across platforms and devices. One of the significant differences between GA4 and its predecessor UA (Universal Analytics) is the ability to utilize it not only for a website but also for an app, or both at the same time, allowing for tracking possibilities that have never been seen before.

What is the difference between Google Analytics 4 vs Universal Analytics?

While GA Universal focuses on pages, GA4 is very different. Instead of focusing on page views, GA4 employs an entirely new sort of event-based measurement. It keeps track of individual page elements’ performance and relative contribution, including variants. GA4 allows you to assess a user’s experience rather than a proxy, giving you a complete view of their behavior and removing blind spots as you track them across your entire website.

All traffic sources are now tracked in one location, without the need for additional solutions like App + Web, whether your visitor engages with your business through a mobile app, software, or your website. There are numerous changes, including a new user interface. GA4 additionally utilizes new Google Tags, and you will need a new Google Analytics property for storing data.

Can we use both Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics?

Starting from July 1, 2023, the standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing data. However, you will still have access to your previously processed data in your Universal Analytics property for a minimum of six months. Consequently, it will not be possible to simultaneously utilize both Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics after this date.

What are the features of Google Analytics 4?

Google Analytics 4 brings new and advanced features to better support businesses. Here are some of the platform’s benefits:

• GA4 allows a complete understanding of the customer journey across multiple devices, platforms, and domains
• Cross-platform tracking (web and apps) using the same Google Analytics property
• New AI-powered insights and predictions
• Customer-centric measurements to streamline data collection
• Customer lifecycle-framed reporting
• New interface and navigation
• GA4 allows you to get access to a lot more custom metrics and domains
• Real-time event tracking without adding code on your website
• Improved visualizations to make data control more granular
• Future-proof tracking without cookies
• Deeper integrations with Google Ads and BigQuery

The relationship between Google Analytics 4 and eCommerce

As Google Analytics 4 is still in its early stage, you can expect a lot more competitive features in the future. Anyone switching from Universal Analytics to a GA4 property type will probably experience some growing pains.

eCommerce reports and features differ from Universal Analytics in a number of ways, as they do in many other areas of GA4. eCommerce tracking has been modified within GA4; however, it still lacks some functionalities that are accessible in Universal Analytics. For example, the “Monetization” report in GA4 now includes the “Overview, eCommerce Purchases, In-App Purchases, and Publisher Ads” reports, which track eCommerce statistics.

Google Analytics 4 use cases for eCommerce

Use Case #1: Google Analytics eCommerce tracking

You can compare real sales data with other website metrics like traffic source or medium using GA4Google Analytics eCommerce tracking. So you can understand how well your web pages are performing and your average return on investment (ROI) from marketing campaigns. In addition, it provides you with a whole eCommerce report. This report gives you a detailed overview of user behavior on your website or app. You’ll be able to utilize the information later to improve your business.

Here are some use cases of GA4 eCommerce tracking:

eCommerce conversion rate: Find out what percentage of your visitors made a purchase. Conversions could be someone filling out your contact form, signing up for your newsletter, or purchasing anything.

Shopping cart abandonment: With Google Analytics enhanced eCommerce tracking, you can now track your shop cart abandonment rate. It shows you the percentage of customers who abandon their shopping cart before making a transaction.

Use Case #2: Customer retention rate

The retention report can help you understand how often and how long users return to your website or mobile app after their first visit. It also helps determine the value of users based on the additional revenue generated after their first visit.

Use Case #3: Custom funnels

GA4 allows you to create funnels to track each step of the customer journey. As a result, it will be easier to track the traffic to your website and the behavior of potential customers. With GA4, you can easily create a funnel using a combination of events or pageviews, filtered by any event property and intelligent features like elapsed time measurement.

Use Case #4: Optimize content based on user engagement

The average engagement time indicator in Google Analytics 4 calculates the amount of time (in seconds) consumers spent interacting with your website (scrolling, clicking, browsing, etc.).

Use Case #5: Effectively retarget high-intent customers

With GA4, you can use predictive remarketing to target your customers in a smart and simple way. Furthermore, based on user behavior, you can establish custom audiences. Use predictive audiences like ‘Users who are likely to buy in the next 7 days or ‘Users who are likely to buy for the first time in the next 7 days, and so on. GA4’s machine learning capabilities automatically build predictive audiences.

Tracking online sales with Google Analytics 4

As technology evolves, businesses must consider their users and the future of analytics in new ways. Google Analytics 4 is a fantastic tool for generating actionable customer insights. As a result, retailers and marketers employ them to enhance the customer experience.

At different stages of their journey, users view a brand’s website and app on multiple devices and platforms. In addition, shifting privacy regulations are changing how companies track, collect and use analytics data.

Fortunately, Google Analytics 4 considers these significant changes in customer behavior and privacy concerns. It has a flexible design, enhanced insights, and efficient means to act on those insights.

Better analytics insights = better marketing decisions!