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Ecommerce
Ecommerce Tracking That Matches Every Order
From product view to refund, we track the full shopping journey and send the same purchase, with the same order ID, to GA4, Google Ads and Meta.
- Revenue reconciled
- No duplicate orders
- Catalog-ready item data
Live purchase funnel
Live
view_item
Product page, item_id SKU-2041, price 49.00
GA4
add_to_cart
1 item, value 49.00 USD
GA4 + Meta
begin_checkout
Coupon SPRING10 applied
GA4 + Ads
add_payment_info
Payment type: card
GA4
purchase
Order #10482, value 44.10, tax 3.60
GA4 + Ads + CAPI
Challenges
Why Ecommerce Tracking Breaks
Online stores have more moving parts than most sites: themes, apps, payment gateways and checkout platforms that all change independently.
Revenue does not match orders
Payment redirects, blocked scripts and reloaded confirmation pages push GA4 revenue away from what the store actually took.
Duplicate purchases
A Pixel and a CAPI integration without a shared event ID, or two apps firing the same tag, count one order twice.
Missing item data
Empty item arrays break product reports in GA4 and stop dynamic remarketing from matching your catalog.
Checkout on another domain
Hosted checkouts and third-party payment pages split sessions and hand credit to the payment provider instead of the campaign.
Recommended setup
The Setup We Recommend for Online Stores
Four layers, each doing one job. Together they give every platform the same, validated version of what happened.
01
Ecommerce data layer
GA4 ecommerce schema pushed by the theme or app on every funnel step, with item IDs that match your product feed.
02
GTM web container
One set of ecommerce tags reading the data layer, with consent checks and a purchase trigger that fires once per order.
03
Server-side and Meta CAPI
Purchase forwarded from a server container with the same transaction and event ID as the browser event.
04
Revenue reporting
A Looker Studio view that compares tracked revenue with store orders, with an optional BigQuery export.
Implementation
GA4 and Google Tag Manager, Configured for Ecommerce
GA4 Configuration
- Recommended ecommerce events with full item arrays
- Purchase marked as a key event with value and currency
- Refunds sent so revenue reflects returns
- Item brand and category for product reports
- Payment gateways excluded as referrals
Tag Manager Setup
- Data layer variables for items, value and transaction ID
- Purchase trigger protected against page reloads
- Consent Initialization before any marketing tag
- Google Ads conversion linker and remarketing
- Meta events carrying a shared event_id
Ad platforms and conversions
Google Ads, Meta and Conversion Priorities
Google Ads
- Purchase conversion with value and order ID
- Enhanced Conversions with hashed email
- Product IDs matching Merchant Center
- Add to cart kept as a secondary goal
Meta Ads
- Pixel and Conversions API with deduplication
- ViewContent, AddToCart, InitiateCheckout, Purchase
- content_ids matching your Meta catalog
- Customer parameters for match quality
Conversion priorities
- Primary: completed purchase with value
- Secondary: add to cart, begin checkout
- Excluded: thank-you page views
- Values agreed: with or without tax and shipping
Example
Example Ecommerce Event Map
Event
Fires when
Key parameters
Sent to
view_item
Product page loads
item_id, item_name, price
GA4, Meta ViewContent
add_to_cart
Item added to cart
items, value, currency
GA4, Meta AddToCart
begin_checkout
Checkout starts
items, value, coupon
GA4, Google Ads (secondary)
purchase
Order is confirmed
transaction_id, value, tax, shipping
GA4, Google Ads, Meta CAPI
refund
Order is refunded
transaction_id, value
GA4
Process
How We Implement It
01
Audit
Compare tracked orders and revenue with the store.
02
Specify
Write the ecommerce data layer and event map.
03
Implement
Build funnel events, purchase and platform tags.
04
Test orders
Place test orders with coupons and each gateway.
05
Reconcile
Review revenue accuracy two weeks after launch.
Can you track Shopify checkout?
Yes. Shopify checkout uses customer events and the Web Pixels API. We set up checkout and purchase events there and connect them to GA4, Google Ads and Meta.
Should purchase value include tax and shipping?
It depends on how you judge campaigns. Many stores send revenue without tax and shipping to ad platforms. We agree the rule with you and apply it consistently.
Why is GA4 revenue lower than store revenue?
Consent choices, ad blockers, payment redirects and refunds all create gaps. We identify which apply to your store and close the ones that can be closed.
Do you work with WooCommerce plugins?
Yes. We review existing tracking plugins, remove conflicts and either configure the plugin properly or replace it with a data layer and Tag Manager.
Can you track subscriptions and renewals?
Yes. First orders and renewals are tracked separately, and renewals that happen without a site visit can be sent from the server.
Related services
Services Used in This Setup
We set up a server-side Tag Manager container on your own subdomain.
Get a Free Ecommerce Tracking Audit
We review your current setup against this standard and tell you what to fix first. No obligation.