How To Set Up Google Analytics 4 For Your BigCommerce Store

Google Analytics is a crucial tool for understanding how visitors interact with your website, enabling business owners to make data-driven decisions. The latest version, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), offers enhanced features and capabilities. Integrating GA4 with your BigCommerce store will help you gain a comprehensive view of your business performance.

In this blog post, we’ll guide you through the steps to integrate GA4 with your BigCommerce store.

5 Steps To Connect Google Analytics 4 To Your BigCommerce Store

Step 1: Review The Requirements

Some requirements must be met to add Google Analytics 4 to your BigCommere store:

• You must have the Manage Web Analytics permission enabled on your user account. 
• If you don’t already have one, set up a Google Analytics account. Consider creating separate accounts for each storefront if you manage multiple shops.
• You will need a GA4 Measurement ID to integrate GA4 with your BigCommerce store.
• You can create an API Secret (Optional) in Google Analytics to track refunds, which can provide deeper insights into customer behavior.
• Your storefront needs to be running a Stencil theme
• The integration is only compatible with BigCommerce storefronts. Headless storefronts are not supported.
• Your store must use Optimized One-Page Checkout. Legacy and Custom Checkouts are not supported.

Step 2: Add Your Google Analytics 4 Property

If this is your first time setting up analytics for your store, refer to Google’s documentation on how to set up Analytics for a website and/or app to get started with GA4. This guide provides detailed instructions and tips to ensure a smooth setup process. When setting up, choose the following options:

• Select Web as the data stream type.
• Keep the enhanced measurement enabled (Recommended)
• You can skip Set up data collection for websites; the integration will add the tag automatically.

If your store is using Universal Analytics, you should refer to Google’s documentation on adding a Google Analytics 4 property to a site that already has Analytics. Make sure to keep the option “Enable data collection using your existing tags” enabled to continue gathering data without any interruptions.

Step 3: Obtain GA4 Measurement ID

The next step is to locate your Measurement ID. Go to Admin › Data Streams and click on your storefront’s stream. Make sure you’ve selected the appropriate account and property at the top of the screen.

Step 4: Set up Google Analytics 4 in Your BigCommerce Store

• Go to Settings › Data Solutions. If you’re using Multi-Storefront, go to Channel Manager › Storefront Name › Data Solutions and click Connect next to Google Analytics 4.

• Click Connect next to Google Analytics 4.

• Enter your Google Analytics Measurement ID and click Connect.
• The refund event in Google Analytics requires an API secret for tracking. See Google’s documentation for instructions on how to create a new secret in your Google Analytics account. You can add it later if not immediately necessary.

Step 5: Check Your Tracking And Reports

Once your Google Analytics is connected to your store, you can use the Realtime or DebugView reports to verify that data is being collected from your store. Be aware that some reports may take 24 to 48 hours to process the data from your store, so you might not see immediate results in those reports.

Why Should Bigcommerce Store Owners Use Google Analytics 4?

Here are some key advantages of integrating your BigCommerce store with Google Analytics 4:

• Enhanced User Tracking Across Platforms and Devices:

GA4 provides a more unified view of how users interact with your store across different devices and platforms. This is crucial for understanding the customer journey that may start on one device and conclude on another.

• Improved Data Collection and Analysis:

GA4 uses an event-based data model, which is more flexible than the session-based model used in Universal Analytics. This allows for more comprehensive and granular data collection, enabling store owners to track specific interactions more accurately, such as clicks, page views, or item purchases.

• Advanced Machine Learning Insights:

GA4 incorporates Google’s advanced machine learning technologies to automatically identify trends and provide predictive insights. For example, it can predict revenue from particular customer segments or calculate churn probability, helping store owners make proactive decisions.

• Better Customization and Control:

The new analytics platform allows for greater customization in reporting. Users can create and modify reports to focus on the data that matters most to their business, enhancing the decision-making process with tailor-made insights.

• Enhanced Visualization of User Engagement:

GA4 offers improved visualization tools that make it easier to understand data at a glance, including more intuitive dashboards and user-friendly interfaces that can display complex datasets comprehensibly.

Bottom Line

Following the step-by-step guide outlined in this article, you can easily set up the integration and begin tracking customer behavior on your BigCommerce store using GA4 to enhance your store’s performance.

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