A Shopify store owner is missing critical e-commerce events (view_item, add_to_cart, purchase) in Google Analytics 4, receiving only default events like user_engagement and session_start.
Root Cause Identified:
The Shopify Google & YouTube app’s automatic tracking wasn’t functioning properly. The existing data layer used Universal Analytics schema instead of GA4 schema, preventing proper event transmission.
Solution:
Key Technical Points:
Ongoing Issue:
Another user (tidalvape) followed the same tutorial but still cannot track purchase events. Initial audit suggests their GTM script needs modification to match their website structure, and they need to verify trigger configuration and GDPR compliance for EEA visitors.
Hey! Can anyone help set up Google Analytics? The problem is that I do not get events like view_item, add_to_cart, begin checkout, add_payment_info, and purchase reports.
I have only user_engagement, scroll, form_start, form_submit, first_visit, and session_start events, which are not so useful.
Any help is much appreciated!
Hello Kristin!
Sure, what info you want me to share?
Hello Maxkhramov,
Thanks for your query.
could you please share your website URL? I would love to check and audit.
The event you are getting in GA4 is by default event and these are enhanced measurement.
If you would like to get the e-commerce event like view content,add to cart, checkout, or purchase event in GA4 you must create the event through Google Tag Manager with Datalayer event.
when someone visit your website and take e-commerce action you would get the events in GA4. purchase event will be attributed as key events.
To get these event and datalayer variables like value, currency, order ID, item name, item id , you must have an datalayer setup for dynamic value tracking.
Feel free to ask if you have any questions.
Thanks
Hello Sam!
the website is cutieme.com.ua
I’m using google App to link google analytics. I though it was made automatically
The data layer you are talking about is prebuilt by Google and YouTube apps.
when you select the GTM ID there would be no datalayer.
The One I attached is custom-built Datalayer for Google Tag Manager. as your google and you tube app is not sending data to GA4 you can move for Google Tag Manager.
If you observe closely you can see the difference on schema. the one you have attached is universal analytics schema where mine is GA4 schema.
https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/ga4/ecommerce?client_type=gtm
Sure, but in this article https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics/google-analytics/tracking-ecommerce-events-using-analytics#automatically-tracked-events they say that events should be reported automatically. I do not understand why I should create additional GTM for it.
I thought it just some setting in the app itself blocking it, or something like that
If you link everything properly it is supposed to work automatically and track the e-commerce events.
since it is automated and works on a specific algorithm we have nothing much to do.‘’
you can disconnect the app and reconnect to see if there is any changes.
if the issue still persist you can go for Google Tag Manager.
Thanks
Hello Max!
I was wondering if instead of the pain of setting up GA wouldnt you be interested in a one-click solution that delivers you data (hundreds of dimensions and measures), reports and dashboards on product/variant level without a single involvement from your part?
No signup/registration demo can be found here to have an idea: https://demo.datma.io/ and this a direct link to a report with product metrics: https://demo.datma.io/shopify/reporting/metrics/1416
Best,
Peter [email removed] Datma
Thanks, Sam! Google Tag Manager did the job, all events are visible in Google Analytics now.
I followed this tutorial and everything works now https://youtu.be/krFHfkiANjc?si=R9Oibhgebfvc8ZH8
You may want to try Attribuly & GA4 integration. We have achieved 99% data accuracy for key events you mentioned in a lot of other projects.
H, I need help fix the purchase event tracking on Shopify. I tried multiple times, but it’s not working, could you please help me
Hi, I followed the video link which you provided, I followed all the steps, but still purchase event not showing in GA4, could you please help me
HI Tidavape,
Replying with a different account but same person.
Sorry for late reply as i did not receive any notification.
Could you please share your website URL? I would love to check.
For which platform you want to track the conversions?
Kind Regards
Thank you for sharing your website link.
I’ve conducted a thorough audit and noticed that while you have a Google Tag Manager (GTM) script implemented to push events into the data layer during user interactions, these events do not appear to be tracked correctly within GTM.
To resolve this, we will need to modify the GTM script to align with your website’s structure and ensure proper event capturing.
Additionally, I’d like to better understand:
How your current event tags and data layer variables were configured.?
Whether you’ve set up triggers to capture these events in GTM.
DId you check the GA4 realtime to verify the event tracking?
Important Compliance Note:
Since your website serves visitors from the European Economic Area (EEA), I recommend implementing a GDPR-compliant cookie consent banner (e.g., via Cookiebot, OneTrust, or Complianz) to ensure proper user data handling.
Please let me know if you’d like to proceed with these updates or discuss further. I’m happy to provide a detailed action plan.
KInd Regards
