Google Analytics is an essential tool for Shopify store owners. This blog post will show you how to set up Shopify Google Analytics, and why it’s important for your Shopify store.
Knowing what to sell is less essential than understanding your audience and the actions they exhibit on your website. Using Google Analytics traffic data to figure out who you’re marketing to is the greatest approach to understanding your target audience.
When it comes to Shopify google analytics, having a firm understanding is critical if you wish to have a successful ecommerce business.
In the same way, brick-and-mortar store owners can ask them in person what they think of their items, layout, and checkout method. Your customers, on the other hand, may be hundreds or thousands of miles away from you.
If you’re interested in integrating Google Analytics into your Shopify business, this article is for you.
In this guide you will learn about:
- The importance of Google Analytics
- How to set up a Google Analytics account
- How to add Google Analytics tracking code to your Shopify store
- How to verify Google Analytics setup
- How to add your site to the referral exclusion list
- How to enable Google Analytics ecommerce tracking
- How to enable enhanced ecommerce tracking in Shopify
- How to view ecommerce reports in Google Analytics
- Shopify Analytics and its report types
- Difference between Shopify Analytics & Google Analytics
Table of Contents
What Is Shopify Google Analytics?
Before we teach you how to integrate Google Analytics into your Shopify store, you may be wondering what analytics are.
Analytics is a method of collecting data on how customers use your store (for example, how long they spend on it), analyzing it, and using the findings to improve your company’s performance. In this case, figure out what Shopify analytics are for and how to utilize them.
Don’t be concerned if it sounds technical; any store owner can accomplish it!
Customers don’t have to tell you anything, but they do so via your website on a regular basis. Your visitors may not be able to see them, but they communicate with you by telling you things about themselves (how they shop, what they’re interested in).
What they say is how you know what changes to make to your business.
Although spreadsheets and numbers may not seem to be much of a pleasure, learning how to sell on Shopify effectively necessitates understanding how Shopify google analytics work.
Where your clients are from, how long they spend on your site, and what items they like can help you improve their experience (and the better their experience, the more likely they are to buy).
Shopify’s analytics might assist you in determining what your consumers are looking for in your store.
In a nutshell, the more you know, the better your store will be.
You’re probably thinking that performing all of this would require a brainy type, but ecommerce platforms like Shopify provide you the ability to learn the ropes and discover how your website works. Shopify’s analytics tools are highly effective and easy to use.
Adding Google Analytics to your Shopify shop is easy and free, and it’s the first step in developing a data-driven ecommerce strategy for your business.
Why Google Analytics?
Do all of the terms used above sound like a foreign language?
Don’t be concerned; learning how to use Google Analytics is a simple matter of study on your part.
After you’ve integrated Google Analytics into Shopify, have a look at some of the useful tutorials available online. The Google Analytics setup guide is excellent, as is Shopify’s specific Google Analytics assistance page.
It takes a long time to go through all of Google Analytics’ elements (and that’s not what this guide is about). But we’ll give you a brief definition of each major statistic on your dashboard.
- Sessions Number of interactions one visitor makes in 30 minutes when they visit your store (Google’s default timeframe). So, if a customer visits your site, views two pages, buys a product, and leaves within half an hour, this is considered one session.
- Users The total number of individual users who have had at least one session on your website is known as the “active user count.” This does not include individuals who have had numerous visits. For example, a person who comes to your site and then leaves an hour later would be credited with two sessions, while another individual would only be credited with one session.
- Average Session Duration The duration of your session is displayed, along with the average length of sessions for other users in hours, minutes, and seconds.
- Bounce Rate We’ve all done it: we’ve gone to a page but immediately hit the back button because we didn’t find what we were searching for. We haven’t interacted with that page, and Google classifies it as a bounce. The Bounce Rate is a metric that determines how many people on your site perform this action.
- Percentage New Sessions How many percent of your sessions are first-time visits?
In the section that follows, we’ll show you how to use Shopify analytics and Google Analytics to enhance your Shopify store.
How to get the most out of Google Analytics?
When it comes to gathering data, there are few websites that can compete with Google Analytics. However, how do you turn all of this information into actionable insights to boost your Shopify store? Isn’t this what you want as an ecommerce business owner?
Here are a few easy methods for you to begin utilizing your data to boost your business.
To get the most out of your Shopify Google analytics, make a list of two or three important business objectives. (You’ve probably thought of these already, but it’s good to remind yourself.)
For example, one business objective may be to reduce the bounce rate on a key product page. Consider this if you discover that customers aren’t interested in your product:
- Is the product’s picture appealing?
- Is the user inspired to take an action as a result of seeing it?
- Is the product’s position on the page unpleasant for consumers? Do they have to scroll too far down to reach the product?
- Is it apparent what the page has to offer the person who is reading it?
Take responsibility for your mistakes. If you’re not sure what to do, consider the following:
- Make some changes to the product description.
- Find a better professional image for your website.
- Change the color scheme of the page.
- Make the product page easier to use for customers.
You may repeat the above procedure at each stage of a sales funnel to perfect and enhance it.
How to Setup Google Analytics Account?
This is for those who are unfamiliar with Google Analytics and need to learn the ropes. However, if you’re already familiar with it, you may skip this section.
Step#1: To begin, you’ll need a Google Analytics account. To get there, go to https://analytics.google.com/. If you already have a Gmail account, use that to log in. Create a new Gmail account for yourself if necessary.
The pages will open in a new tab. Click the signup button when you see a screen similar to the one below.
google analytics signup
Step#2: The next screen will display options for selecting between a website and an app on your smartphone. You must pick the tracking technology as a website.
To generate your account, go to the Settings page of your Analytics account and enter a name for it, the name of your website, site URL, pick an industry category from the dropdown menu below, and leave all other checkboxes as they are by default, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on the Get Tracking Id button.
google analytics signup screen
You’ll be able to get tracking numbers for your new customer leads right away! When you click the Get Tracking Id button, a pop-up window with the Google Analytics Terms & Conditions will appear. You must agree to the terms and conditions in order to proceed.
Step#3: On the initial visit to your analytics account, you will see a screen that displays your website tracking data. The script you need to include in your Shopify online store may be found here, along with the tracking id.
google analytics tracking code
You will have to click the admin menu, property, tracking information, and then the tracking code if you’re looking for it in different areas of your site.
find analytics tracking code
Step#4: Copy the tracking code between the <script></script> tags to your Shopify account in a new tab.
How to Add Google Analytics code to Shopify
Follow the instructions below to add Google Analytics to Shopify.
step#1: Go to your Shopify ecommerce dashboard, select Online Store from the drop-down menu in the left column, and then click Preferences.
shopify admin
Step#2: Paste the analytics tracking code in the Google Analytics Account field.
Step#3: Click Save and Done!
After that, go to the Shopify admin and select Online Store > Preferences. Check the use enhanced ecommerce box in the Google Analytics account field.
enable enhanced ecommerce shopify
Step#4: Click the button labeled “Save”.
Verify Shopify Google Analytics Code Setup
There are two ways to ensure that you have entered the tracking code correctly.
i). View Real-Time Reports
In your analytics account report, go to Real-Time > Overview and open a new tab for your website. The number of active visitors on your site may be viewed in real time.
real-time analytics
You may also accomplish this by clicking the send test traffic button on your analytics account’s tracking information page.
ii). Install Google Tag Assistant
The Google Analytics Tag Assistant is a browser plugin that displays the number of analytics tracking tags on your site as well as their status in various colors. It will also notify you if any of your tracking tags are faulty.
google tag assistant
Add Your Site to Referral Exclusion List
To produce accurate data, exclude the domains you don’t want to attribute as referrals.
Step#1: Navigate to the admin portion of your Property, click Tracking Info, and then Referral Exclusion List.
referral exclusion list
Step#2: Add the following domains to your referral exclusion list:
- Yourwebsitename.com
- Checkout.shopify.com
- Any third-party payment systems you’re utilizing (PayPal.com)
Enable Ecommerce Tracking in Google Analytics
So we’ve completed the setup of Shopify Google Analytics tracking, and now we can obtain reports. We don’t yet receive ecommerce data.
We must first enable ecommerce reports from the GA account in order to access Shopify google analytics ecommerce reports.
Step#1: open your analytics account.
Step#2: Navigate to Admin >> View >> Ecommerce Settings
google analytics ecommerce settings
Step#3: Inside the ecommerce settings, first check the Enable Ecommerce switch, then click the next step and enable the “Enhanced Ecommerce Settings” switch. Finally, click Submit to submit your information. A green color success message box will show up at the top of the page.
enable ecommerce tracking
Within the next 24-48 hours, you will be able to access ecommerce reports in your analytics account.
How to enable Enhanced Ecommerce Analytics In Shopify
If you want to make the most of Google Analytics on your Shopify store, now is the time to enable Enhanced Ecommerce in your shopify store.
Google rolled out Enhanced Ecommerce a few years ago to provide merchants like you with even more information about each step of your customer’s journey.
Enhanced Ecommerce was created expressly for internet store owners, rather than the global appeal of Google Analytics.
Another disadvantage of depending on Shopify’s standard analytics is that you may lose track of your consumer after they’ve purchased and completed the checkout process on your product page. They enter a kind of blindspot.
Enabling Enhanced Ecommerce is like switching on a bright light when looking at your analytics.
It adds Google Analytics to your Shopify checkout page as well as your shop pages, which is similar to turning on a bright light. Keep in mind that your Shopify analytics are the most accurate gauge of how people use your store.
This implies you may follow exactly what your consumers do, from clicking to reading through to purchasing a product.
We’ll save the details of Enhanced Ecommerce for later because we’re guessing you just want to know how to add it to your Shopify store? (If you’d like to learn more about Enhanced Ecommerce, Google has a helpful tutorial.)
Adding Enhanced Ecommerce is completely free and simple. Simply check the box in the Shopify admin tool’s Preferences area to activate it.
The first thing you should do is visit Online Store in the left navigation:
To get started, go to the Online Store’ section in your Shopify Admin menu.
Then select Preferences:
Select Preferences next to enable Enhanced Ecommerce
Check the box for Enhanced Ecommerce’ and then click save.
To upgrade your store’s Google Analytics, check the box next to “Use Enhanced Ecommerce.”
You’ll also need to activate Enhanced Ecommerce tracking in your Google Analytics account.
Turn on ecommerce tracking in Google Analytics to get insight into crucial information that Shopify has provided to Google, such as what your consumers are buying.
View Googe Analytics Ecommerce Reports
We’ve successfully set up Shopify Google Analytics tracking and ecommerce tracking thus far. The last stage is to understand ecommerce reports and alter your marketing methods in accordance with your company objective.
Let’s get started with an overview of ecommerce reports. Navigate to Conversions, Goals, and Overview in your analytics account reporting page.
shopify ecommerce reports
Overview
The overview reports provide details on important metrics like revenue, orders, and conversion rate. The following are some of the most essential metrics to be concerned about:
- Ecommerce Conversion Rate
- Average Order Value
- Revenue
- Transactions
- Unique Purchases
ecommerce reports overview
Product Performance
Each product’s performance report shows data about the product’s performance. You may examine and sort the top-performing goods (Conversions: Ecommerce: Product Performance) to see which campaigns are responsible for the most sales.
google analytics product performance
Which channels are driving revenue?
At the start of this article, I stated that you may see which channels are driving income. Let’s look at how to find out what revenue-generating sources your shopify ecommerce business has. Navigate to Reports -> All Traffic > Channels in the reporting tab.
Select the ecommerce option from the explorer section above the chart.
google analytics channels
Under the chart, select the ecommerce option, and you’ll see a table below it with information on revenue-generating channels.
analytics revenue-generating channels
Your customer location
You can find out where your largest clients are located anywhere in the world by looking at the audience panel. Select ecommerce from the map overlay tab to view customer location reports on Audience >> Geo >> Location.
The reports will show where your consumers are from and the data about their purchases.
google analytics location reports
You can alter the primary dimension to view reports about a specific region, continent, or sub-continent.
I hope this article was useful and that you were able to use Shopify Google Analytics ecommerce tracking to your advantage. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns in the comments, and please share this guide with your friends and social media groups.
The goal of transaction tracking is to comprehend your customer’s e-commerce journey.
Shopify owners frequently express worry that if a consumer pays through PayPal rather than Shopify’s own checkout system, you’ll lose track of the transaction.
We put this problem to Shopify.
PayPal sales are processed through Shopify’s Checkout and redirected to PayPal. Those purchases are still tracked in Shopify, even though your client placed a credit card order on the Checkout, and you can see a clear distinction in your Shopify reports.
Did you know that Google Analytics is used by more than 80% of large businesses?
It’s critical to use Google Analytics, but using Shopify analytics from a Shopify premium plan with Google Analytics may help your business win.
Thats what well cover in this section.
It’s easy to be taken with all the data. It’s easy to become lost in all of the reports and end up paralyzed by choice (we’ve successfully run an online company before).
Thats where Shopify premium reports can help.
Every Shopify plan gives you access to basic levels of reporting:
- Live View
- Finance Reports (your taxes and payments)
- Overview Dashboard.
Upgrading to a higher Shopify plan allows you access to more information about your consumers. The more you know, the better you can improve your online business.
The Professional Plan will allow you to opt for specific reports rather than the overall view. For example, with Shopify’s premium reports, you’ll get a very clear breakdown of your store’s important information.
The better your Shopify plan, the more Shopify analytics you will have access to, as you might guess. Upgrading to Shopify’s premium plans is similar to shifting up a gear in your vehicle: you can make your site operate smoother and more efficiently.
Here are the different levels of Shopify reports available on each plan:
Compare the different reports available on each Shopify plan
If you want to develop your ecommerce business and earn some decent money with each transaction (either to top up your income or as a main revenue stream), upgrading to the Shopify plan is a must.
If you run a medium-to-large ecommerce business with significant earnings, the ‘Advanced Shopify’ plan is ideal for you.
The more traffic and sales your website gains, the more data it produces. The better you can process this information, the longer your site will continue to develop.
That’s what we all desire, isn’t it? As every company owner knows, the more you understand your clients, the better you can serve them.
The more expensive Shopify plans let you get down and dirty with the features. For example, a “Shopify” plan might allow you to develop a bespoke report that charts changes in order progression from month to month.
We’ve already said that Shopify’s reports should not be substituted for Google Analytics, but they can be used in conjunction with it. They may be seamlessly integrated into your Shopify store.
Shopify analytics and Google share a comprehensive and thorough view of how your store is functioning to satisfy your consumers’ demands. Then, because you have the knowledge you need, you’re better able to fine-tune your site to maintain your consumers happy.
You can enable custom reports on Shopify to filter and modify the default reports, allowing you to dig deeper into a particular site’s area of need. You can save your filtered and revised reports or develop brand-new custom reports if you’re on the ‘Advanced Shopify’ plan or higher.
We discovered that Shopify’s premium reports are well-explained and simple to understand, and we don’t have any prior experience with data analysis.
We’ll go through three reports that you can’t access on Shopify’s Basic Plan, but that has a lot of value if you upgrade to “Advanced Shopify” or “Shopify.”They are:
- Shopify Sales Reports
- Shopify Customers Reports
- Shopify Custom Reports
1. Shopify Sales Reports
As a business owner, your income is ultimately what you care about most.
You’ve established your store on Shopify to generate a little extra money, correct? This increases the importance of learning as much as possible about each and every sale you make!
If this is the case, youll want access to Shopifys sales reports.
We understand how Shopify analytics separates your sales into categories.You can see:
- Have you worked on any strategy to determine where your sales have come from?
- Whether your sales are rising (hopefully) month-to-month and day-to-day, depends to a certain extent on how you’re doing.
- Which items are most popular?
- How successful is your discount program?
- What marketing channel generated your sale (for example, Facebook advertising)
You can use Shopify’s Sales Reports to increase your earnings by tracking everything about your sales funnel.
The reports are also helpful in keeping track of any sales you make, as well as those you don’t. You can view returns and any orders that have been canceled, which show up as a sale on the day the order was placed but then become a return on the day of cancellation.
The most important thing to remember is that Shopify’s sales reports assist you in improving your online shop. So, what’s the use if it doesn’t?
If, for example, you notice that a certain product has an unusually high return rate, you may wish to check the product description.
Is the buyer aware of what he or she will receive?
Or Consider if the shipping alternatives are appealing enough.
Is there a cheaper way to get it without incurring additional shipping costs? Is there a quicker or less expensive method to do this? Is the expense of delivery prohibitive?
Look at the product picture; is it selling the product or is it a little disappointing?
When it comes to operating a Shopify business, there’s a lot of technical jargon. On their site, Shopify has provided definitions for several common sales report terms.
Shopify provides basic “Shopify” plan reports. If you have Shopify’s “Advanced” or “Plus” plans, you can limit and customize your sales reports to display just the data you want (more on custom reports later).
2. Shopify Customers Reports
Shopify Customers reports are only available if your store is on one of the Shopify, Advanced Shopify, or Shopify Plus plans.
You may get a lot of information from Google Analytics on its own, but Shopify’s Customer Reports gives you more detail and breaks down the data into smaller pieces.
Customer reports provide you the ability to get down into the nitty-gritty details of your clientele and paint a complete picture of who they are. This is really beneficial because it allows you to customize your store to meet your customers’ demands.
You can discover where your consumers come from with Shopify customer reports, and tailor your business to meet their demands as a result.
The core insights are comparable to those found in Google Analytics:
- Customers by country
- First-time v returning customer sales
- Returning Customers
- Customers that only use your store once
If you’re on Shopify’s “Advanced” or “Plus” plans, however, you get access to two bits of information that we believe are extremely valuable:
- At-risk customers Customers who haven’t bought anything from you in a while, and who Shopify believe there’s a chance they won’t return.
- Loyal customers Customers who have previously purchased from you are likely to do so again after seeing your product/service on their Facebook feed.
So, so what I only care about selling,’ you might be thinking. Why should I know this?
Imagine your ecommerce business as a ship. It’s like losing customers to a leaking hull. Being able to persuade at-risk consumers to do business with you again is similar to being able to plug the holes and cracks in your hull.
After you’ve determined which of your clients are loyal and which aren’t, you can take steps.
You can use this strategy to thank your most devoted consumers with an event invitation or give at-risk customers a one-time discount to entice them to return.
You can program these emails to be sent “3 hours after your customer departs,” “24 hours” or any other time.
3. Shopify Custom Reports
Custom reports allow you to concentrate on exactly what you want.
To modify your reports, you’ll need to be on Shopify’s Advanced Plan or Shopify Plus.
You can base your custom reports on 5 factors:
- Sales
- Vistors
- Payments
- Customers
- Taxes
These are similar to starting points: you begin with one foundation, such as sales, and then filter and refine it for the data you’re looking for. Outside of the United States, first-time buyers.
When you’re cooking, reports that are tailored to your needs work like a sieve. You may use them to separate the undesirable things from the important ones by filtering out the unwanted stuff.
Here’s an illustration of how customizing a pre-defined sales report might benefit your store.
Let’s assume you’re interested in how well your goods are selling in New York. You might create a filter that displays how many sales you’ve had in the Big Apple. Now that you’ve modified the descriptions last month, you’d want to see how your items are selling in the city. So, to discover how many sales you’ve made in
This level of precision is why, if you’re a Shopify business owner looking to grow your store, you should consider upgrading your plan (more on custom reports later).
Of course, your organization’s requirements will play a role in whether or not you should upgrade to a higher-level service.
The more you know about your clients, the better able you are to meet their desires. And as any businessperson will tell you, a satisfied client equals a high-profit margin.
Differences Between Google Analytics and Shopify Analytics
Squaring Shopify analytics with Google Analytics might be a pain. They may provide various figures and as a merchant, you know you can feel torn in two different directions.
Do not be concerned if the analytics do not match.
To get the most out of your business, you should combine Google’s data tools with Shopify analytics. Consider them to be the left and right sides of your store’s brain.
Shopify claims that because Shopify analytics are linked directly to your store, they are more precise and updated faster.
Many Shopify customers report that their site’s visitor count is lower than Google’s. This is most likely due to minor variations in how Google and Shopify record and monitor visitors.
The Google Tag Assistant is a helpful tool for scanning your website and detecting any tracking script issues.
Bear in mind, though, that Shopify’s Customers reports limit you to 30,000 customers; if you’re running a big ecommerce business and need data for more than 30,000 customers, you’ll need to use Google Analytics.
CONCLUSION
Don’t get too worked up if you’ve completed this tutorial and have more questions than when you began.
That is precisely how it should be.
The more you learn about your store’s data and the better you get at analyzing that data, the more possibilities you open up.
Running a Shopify store with analytics is like rolling a snowball down the side of a mountain. The more you do it, the more snow accumulates and the larger the ball grows.
The key is to not perceive this as a burden, but rather as a source of information that you may utilize to grow your business and increase sales.
You’ve learned how to add Google Analytics to your Shopify store and how to get started using it to learn more about it.
To begin with, don’t dwell on the numbers.
Take a look at Shopify and Google analytics to determine which features of your website need the most attention. Focus on a few key areas of your site that you’d want to improve, then utilize Google and Shopify analytics to guide and support any modifications you decide to make.
If you want to create a really successful Shopify business, upgrading to a Shopify Premium plan is now clear.
As we previously said, Shopify analytics improve with each successive plan. Reports accessible to customers on the ‘Shopify’ plan or higher therefore include:
- A clear illustration of your store’s statistics
- The report will provide you with incredibly thorough information about your sales.
- Customized reports may be generated with the program.
They can assist you in taking your business to the next level.
