Prerequisites
1. Set up Google account and get ID and Google Tag Manager snippet
NOTE - This guide only documents the steps that are required to obtain credentials and the Google Tag Manager code snippet. Learn more at Google: Set up GA4
- If you do not have an account, go to analytics.google.com and create an account.
- Set up a new product or app.
- Follow the instructions to create a new GA4 data stream. TIP - Copy the Measurement ID as you will need to add it into a CV resource later.
- To retrieve the generated tag js script for your account, click View Tag Instructions.
- To view the tag, click 'Install manually'.
Copy the tag. It will have your Measurement ID added to it.
Google Tag Manager
Here is an example with the Measurement ID in yellow:
- In the CMS, go to Content → Advanced Content → Resources.
- Use the Search tool to find: rcGoogleTagManagerInitialiserHead
- Click Modify.
In Resource Value, add the Google Tag Manager snippet you copied. It will look like this except the {0} placeholders will have your data stream's Measurement ID.
This tag will output the 'snippet' required by the Google Tag manager.<!-- Google tag (gtag.js) --> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id={0}"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', '{0}'); </script>
Example of snippet in Resource Value:- Click Save.
2. Check templates/widgets are set up for capturing the Product Click event
To capture products clicked by users for GA4, in the CMS, make sure the following are in place:
- Product List Grid widget: zoned layouts are enabled for Products and Categories.
(Pages & Templates → Products → Product List Grid widget) - Items Recently Viewed widget is added to Home Page
(Pages & Templates → Home Page → Items Recently Viewed widget) - CrossSell/Upsell widgets: are added to Product Detail
(Pages & Templates → Products → Product Detail page → CrossSell/Upsell widget) - Campaign Slider: is added to Home Page
(Pages & Templates → Home Page → Campaign Slider widget)
3. Enable Favourites for Prior Purchases:
For each role your customers use and you want tracked:
- Go to Ecommerce → Users → Roles.
- Select the Role, then click the Functions tab.
- Find and tick Enable Customer Favourites.
- Click OK.
- Repeat steps 1-4 for all roles needed.
Configure GA4 Analytics
1. Select GA4 version
- In the CMS, go to: Settings → Settings → Systems → Analytics.
- With Analytics enabled on your site, click Configure.
- In Analytics Feature Settings, toggle ON Enable Analytics.
- In Analytics Version, select which version you are configuring: 'UA' or 'GA4'. NOTE - We recommend you select GA4 whether your site is new to Analytics or on a migration plan.
- In Google Tag Manager ID, enter the ID from your Google Tag Manager account.
Example:- When an ID is entered, Analytics functions available are listed. Tick at least Digital Remarketing or Enhanced eCommerce.
- Digital Remarketing - use Analytics with remarketing tools such as Google Ads or dynamic remarketing. Visitor and purchaser behaviour events from Analytics can be included to personalise ads shown to users after they leave your site and continue to browse the internet.
- Enhanced Ecommerce - collect richer details about user behaviours on your site that goes beyond transactional info. This data can be used with Google Tag Manager to produce reports on patterns of user activity, e.g., how users interact with specific products, where they go to on your site and where they go next, when they abandon their carts and leave your site.
- Enhanced Rich Snippet - add a snippet to enhance search results visually.- Click Save.
2. Set templates (optional)
This step is needed only if you do not want to use the default global template use.
You can select to include all users or a subgroup based on Role by setting relevant templates:
- Set global - one template for all users
- Set role-based - template for users in a specific role.
The system will first check for a role-based template. If one is not found against the role, the global template will be used. The default template is called CV_OpeningBodyTemplate. You can find from the Content menu.
Set Global
To set the global template, go to the default templates admin page. Set the Opening Body Template to the default template or another template you created.
Role-based
To use the tag manager for users in specific roles, go to the role management admin page (see Templates tab). Set the Opening Body Template to the default template or another template you created.
Digital Remarketing
The 'Data Layer Doctor' extension for Chrome may be useful in viewing data objects during testing. It allows you to check the contents of a data layer and verify it against your specifications.
Remarketing uses Analytics with Google's digital remarketing solutions, e.g., Google Ads etc, by personalising ads shown to past visitors of your website who are still on Google or partner websites. What ads are shown to a user is based on their past behaviour matching the behavioral profile of an audience. When there is a match, the user is added to that user audience.
Analytics automatically creates two default audiences:
- Purchasers: Users who made a website purchase
- All users: Users who initiated sessions on your website
You can also create audiences in your Google Analytics 4 properties from any combination of dimensions, metrics, and events. For example, you might create a segment of 'website visitors' - users who leave your site without making a purchase. You can then create rules that are used to show them ads of products they clicked on or added to cart, when they continue to browse and search the internet. Using personalised remarketing may help bring visitors back to your site to make purchases.
See: Remarketing with Google Analytics
Remarketing data from every page of the website are pushed to Google. What data (property + its value) are sent with each page type are listed.
Property | Value | Notes |
---|---|---|
event | 'remarketing' | |
ecomm_pagetype |
| Value determined by the page the user is on. For example:
|
ecomm_prodid | One of the following:
| Optional. Value determined by the page the user is on, and does not apply to page types 'home' or 'other'. |
ecomm_totalvalue | The total value of all products and charges (if any) | Optional. Only applies to page types 'product', 'cart, and 'purchase'. |
google_conversion_value | The total value of all products and charges | Optional. Only applies to page type 'purchase'. |
{ "event": "remarketing", "ecomm_pagetype": "home", "ecomm_prodid": ["ProductCode", "ProductCode"] or "ProductCode", "ecomm_totalvalue": "99.99", "google_conversion_value": "99.99" }
Enhanced Ecommerce
There is no distinction between ecommerce and enhanced ecommerce in GA4 properties.
Enhanced Ecommerce is extra functionality you can add to Google Analytics. Used with Tag Manager, it allows the gathering of richer data about buyers and visitors on your website. Instead of just the standard ecommerce transactional information at the Order Confirmation step, activities such as when they add items to cart, when they remove items, when they abandon their carts and leave without purchasing, where they begin checkout, etc, are also collected. This data can be used to produce reports that analyse shopper behaviour patterns on your site.
Enhanced ecommerce data is pushed for nearly every event type on the website. How CV data fields match Analytics parameters and values are outlined below.
Product Impressions (Products in List Viewed)
Product Impression data is pushed whenever a list of product results is displayed, e.g., products in search results, a category list, the user's favourites.
In GA4, this is the view_item_list
event. Data sent includes the items
array parameter containing the displayed items.
View List Parameters | UA | GA4 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Event Type | impressions | - | Not used in GA4 |
Event Type | ecommerce | ecommerce | |
Event Name | view_item_list | When infinite scrolling is ON: some pages may load additional data after the initial page load. For this reason, impressions are pushed via an event. Infinite scrolling creates a new event, and therefore a new data push. This also pushes the data in blocks to ensure Google's object data limit is not reached. | |
Item list type | list | item_list_name | See: List Names |
products in the list | products | items | Array with each included item. Required: yes |
Products / Items Parameters | UA Value | GA Value | Notes |
See: Products/Items event parameters and values for data sent for each item |
Product/item event parameters and values
In GA4, product data are now under 'items' (ecommerce.items[ ])
Event = items | |||
---|---|---|---|
Parameter | UA | GA4 | Notes |
product description | name | item_name | One of item_id or item_name is required. |
product code | id | item_id | One of item_id or item_name is required. |
product category | category | item_category | GA4: item_category = top level category. Specify up to 5 categories:
UA: when setting the GA4 changes GA4 uses enumerated category parameters. Up to five levels can be specified. Category translation between UA ↔ GA4:
NOTE - If you intend to send GA4 events to UA, it's recommended that you do not use the
|
list name | list * | item_list_name | Value determined by the list in which the product is located. See: List Names *NOTE - Zoned Product Layout must be in use for Enhanced Ecommerce to work with lists. |
product's brand | brand | item_brand | |
product's position / sequence in the list | position | index | |
Monetary nett price of the item, in units of the specified currency parameterprice | price | price | If 'hide pricing' is enabled at Role level, this data is not pushed. |
item level currency | currencyCode |
| In 3-letter ISO 4217 format. Multiple currencies per event is not supported. Each item should set the same currency. GA4 - currency can be set at both item and event levels. If set at item level, event-level Item level structure: ecommerce.items.currency |
List Types
Lists are used for product impressions, product clicks and add to cart tracking. The value of item_list_name is the list type viewed by the user.
Item List Type | List Type Values |
---|---|
Product Detail | Product Details |
Product Category | Product List |
Search Results | Search Results |
Recently Viewed | Items Recently Viewed |
Campaign | Campaign - (sent as the Campaign Description, not the Campaign Code) |
Alternate products | CrossSell |
Accessories / Related products | Upsell |
User Favourites | User Favourites |
Prior Purchases | Prior Purchases |
Product Details | Product Details |
Products Viewed in a List GA4 example:
UA example:
Impressions Data
Product Detail Impression Data:
Product Clicks
Product Click data are pushed on any click of a product link, e.g., a product on a page of search results or on the user's favourites list.
In GA4, the event is called select_item. Details of a clicked product are from the Product/Item event parameters.
Parameters | UA | GA4 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
event | productClick | select_item | |
event | click | - | Event 'click' is not used in GA4. |
event type | click.actionField | - | Event type 'click.actionField' is not needed in GA4. |
List type product was located on when selected | list * | item_list_name | Where product was clicked. See: List Names Event structure:
* NOTE - Zoned Product Layout must be in use for Enhanced Ecommerce to work with lists. |
products/items | products | items | * The If multiple elements are provided, only the first element in |
Product/Item Parameters | UA | GA4 | |
product description | name | item_name ecommerce.items.item_name | |
Product code | id | item_id ecommerce.items.item_id | |
product category | category - primary category ecommerce.click.products.category |
| All levels of the category structure can be shown. 'category' by itself = product's primary category. In UA, when setting the GA4 changes GA4 uses enumerated category parameters. Up to five levels can be specified. Category translation between UA ↔ GA4:
NOTE - If you intend to send GA4 events to UA, it's recommended that you do not use the
|
product's brand | brand | item_brand | Event structure: GA4 - ecommerce.items.brand UA - ecommerce.click.products.brand |
Product's position / sequence in its list | position ecommerce.click.products.position | index ecommerce.items.index | |
Product price (nett price for 1) | price ecommerce.click.products.price | price ecommerce.items.price | If 'hide pricing' is enabled at Role level, this data is not pushed. |
Currency | - | currency | In 3-letter ISO 4217 format. Multiple currencies per event is not supported. Each item should set the same currency. GA4 - currency can be set at both item and event levels. If set at item level, event-level Item level structure: ecommerce.items.currency |
Total amount | - | value | Sum of product price x quantity Structure: ecommerce.value |
Product Click/Select Item - GA4 example:
UA example:
User Details
User Detail data is pushed on every page of the site. There is the option to push data for logged in users only.
'User_ID' = the user's unique identifier (database field = user.userid )
Questionnaire
Questionnaire data is only pushed for non-widget-based questionnaires.
Since the URL does not change post submission, a virtual URL is pushed. (In contrast, widget-based questionnaires have a URL redirect post submission.)
Checkout Steps & Options
In UA, the checkout process is captured in Steps, to reflect the various steps in the checkout process. This is not generally compatible with GA4 except for 'Step 1', which is replaced by 'begin_checkout'.
Checkout Event | UA | GA4 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
event | 'checkout' | ||
event type | 'checkout' | begin_checkout | begin_checkout is effectively equivalent to sending a checkout_progress event with checkout_step set to 1 . |
Event structure | "ecommerce": { "checkout": { "actionField": { "step": 1 | - | Not required in GA4. In UA: The checkout step numbers are:
|
products in the cart | products | items | Includes products in the cart.
|
Checkout GA example:
Checkout UA example:
UA Options - pushed whenever the Checkout Step value (detailed above) is either 3 or 4.
Parameter Options | UA | GA4 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
event | 'checkoutOption' | - | |
event_type | 'checkout' | - | |
step | 3 or 4 | - | Value determined by the step number in 'Checkout Steps' data above. |
option | The option selected at this step | - | For example - 'pickup' at Step 3 or 'BPAY' at Step 4. |
UA Checkout Options example:
Transactions / Purchase
When an order is submitted, the purchase
event pushes the transaction details and details of each product.
In GA4, the purchase
event consists of the transaction (payment) and the items purchased. There is no separate payment event.
Event = purchase | |||
---|---|---|---|
Parameter | UA | GA4 | Notes |
event name | payment | - | |
event name | purchase | purchase | |
sales order number | id | transaction_id | |
order value | revenue | value | total value of order |
tax amount | tax | tax | |
shipping amount | shipping | shipping | |
Event = products/items | |||
See: Products/Items event parameters and values for data sent on each item. |
Purchase/transaction GA4 example:
Purchase UA example:
Login Success check
Login Success data is pushed on any successful user login.
The 'event' always = "login"
The 'widgetName'/'method' = name of the widget used to initiate the login
GA4 example:
UA example:
Logout Success
Logout Success data is pushed on any successful user logout.
The 'event' always = "logout"
The 'widgetName' = that of the widget used to initiate the logout
Add to Cart
Add To Cart data is pushed every time a user successfully adds a product to their cart.
Event | UA | GA4 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
event name | 'addToCart' | add_to_cart | |
Parameters | |||
monetary value of the event |
|
| * value is typically required for meaningful reporting. If you mark the event as a conversion then it's recommended you set value .* currency is required if you set value . |
currency of event | currencyCode | currency | Currency code of the current event, in 3-letter ISO 4217 format. If set, item-level currency is ignored. If not set, currency from the first item in items is used.* If you set value then currency is required for revenue metrics to be computed accurately. |
items added to cart | products | items | An array with items included. Standard product data is included here (e.g. name, id, category, quantity, brand, price) |
pageType | One of the following:
| - | Value determined by the page on which the product was added. In GA4, not used. |
list page where product was added |
|
| See: List Names. *NOTE - Zoned Product Layout must be used in order for Enhanced eCommerce to work with lists. |
GA4 Example
UA Example
Remove from Cart
Remove From Cart data is pushed whenever a product is successfully removed from the user's cart.
NOTE - This can be a whole line deletion, or a decrease in quantity. Both actions are sent as 'Remove From Cart' data.
Property | UA | GA4 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
event | 'removeFromCart' | remove_from_cart | |
value of order line (product x quantity) | value | ||
currency code for the current account | currencyCode | currency | |
product(s) removed from cart | products | items | Standard product data is included here (e.g. name, id, category, quantity, price). |
GA4 example
UA example
Cart Updated
Cart Updates will push Add or Remove event depending on product quantity changes:
Quantity increase triggers an "addToCart" data push
Quantity decrease triggers a "removeFromCart" data push
Promotion Codes check name
The following data is automatically pushed in relation to Promotion Code use:
success adding a promo code ('validPromoCode')
failure adding a promo code ('invalidPromoCode')
removal of a promo code ('removedPromoCode')
The event type and the promotion code name is the only data sent in these instances.
View Order
View Order data is pushed when an order is viewed on the Order History / tracking page. The relevant sales order number is sent in this instance.
View Template
View Template data is pushed when a saved template is viewed on the Order Templates page. The template name is sent in this instance.
Extend or Override Pushed Data
To push custom data or to override Commerce Vision's out-of-the-box inclusions, consult Commerce Vision.
CV internal use:
Determine the type of custom data required to push:
User
Product
Order
Include the new data by adding the field to the relevant JSON field group.
Data Type
Dictionary Table
JSON Field Group
User
Primary Table:
User
Additional Tables:
Role
Customer
SiteTrackerUserData (or SiteTrackerUserData_RoleNamefor role-specific changes)
Product
Product
SiteTrackerProductData (or SiteTrackerProductData_RoleName for role-specific changes)
Order
Primary Table:
ProntoSalesOrder
Additional Tables:
ProntoSalesOrderLine
Product
SiteTrackerOrderData (or SiteTrackerOrderData_RoleName for role-specific changes)
Finally, construct the tracking code per the format below.
First parameter is the data to manipulate (e.g. "userDetail" in sample code)
Second parameter is the type of manipulation:
extend
override
The third parameter is the function that will perform the manipulation (e.g. "EmailAddress: data.EmailAddress" in sample code)
The data is the raw data that can be used for manipulation (and includes the additional data from the JSON field groups described above)
Sample Data Extension code$.cv.css.tracker.track("userDetail", "extend", function(data) { return { EmailAddress: data.EmailAddress }; });
Possible extension methods:
userDetail
pageType (this is for Digital Remarketing)
productImpressions
productClick
questionnaire
checkout
checkoutOption
transactionProducts
loginSuccess
logoutSuccess
addToCart
removeFromCart
promoCodes
viewOrder
viewTemplate