Most customers visit online stores using a smartphone, but to complete a purchase more than half of us still use a computer. For sellers, this is a challenge. Until recently, they could not precisely determine which of the buyers is a returning customer. This is changed by the recently introduced Google Analytics 4. PromoTraffic experts point out why the new generation of the popular tool will revolutionize user tracking.
The whole "problem" with mobile buyers is that they do it via apps. No wonder, after all, it's the default way of using a smartphone - according to research, 90 percent of time spent with mobile devices is accounted for by using apps. In the case of e-commerce, these are not only strictly shopping apps released by online stores and marketplace services. Customers can also reach the store via a link from an SMS, a photo on Facebook, or a story on Instagram Stories. However, these access channels are not always compatible.
On computers, where we usually use one browser, measuring buyer activity is simpler. E-store analytics is based on cookies integrated with it that effectively track user actions. That is why cross-device traffic flows (between devices) and multi-channel (from many channels) are so difficult to trace. For marketers, this primarily causes problems in determining how effective the campaign just carried out was. Did customers who entered the store through a promotional link but bought nothing do so later through another app?
Events instead of sessions
Events instead of sessions
As the share of mobile purchases in e-store sales grew, this problem became increasingly pressing. The introduction of Google Analytics 4 was supposed to solve it. A few months after the introduction of the new generation of the tool, PromoTraffic experts assess that it has fulfilled its task.
- The main difference of the new solution compared to Google Universal is the change of the basis for measuring data from sessions to events. The reason was the unification of web and app analytics. Previously, we needed two tools, Google Universal and Google Firebase, to be able to measure data from the website and the app. Now we have it all in one place. In Google Analytics 4, events are used to send data to reports. This therefore includes tracking activities, user details, and all the information you want to track within your own site - explains Magdalena Majewska, Head of PPC at PromoTraffic.
What will the new analytics change?
What will the new analytics change?
How does online shopping analytics change e-commerce optimization?
How does analytics in online shopping change e-commerce optimization?
Since its release in October 2020, Google Analytics 4 has also proven to be more demanding when it comes to switching to new methods of data acquisition than its predecessors. It takes marketers a relatively long time to master the logic of defining events, also because the reports they receive are in a more personalized version. At the same time, the advanced reporting capabilities are one of the most frequently praised elements of the new tool by specialists.
- Google also gives the ability to tailor analytics to your own business. It is the analyst who should decide - first, what they want to measure, and second, in what form they want to analyze it. Even in basic reports, Google Analytics 4 suggests a change in the approach to analyzing data, from measuring individual contacts with the company toward measuring the entire relationship and lifecycle - notes Magdalena Majewska.
Due to the difficult transition to Google Analytics 4 and the still-visible shortcomings of the new tool, a significant portion of e-commerce companies have so far not started using it. It is therefore difficult at this point to assess its impact on the performance marketing industry. However, experts expect that thanks to better tracking of traffic from multiple devices, we will find that activities carried out in channels considered to convert less well (especially mobile) turn out to be more effective than previously thought. In the future, this may translate into changes in the pricing of promotional campaigns.
Summary
The introduction of Google Analytics 4 changes the way customer activity in e-commerce is measured. Instead of sessions, the new tool is based on events, which makes it possible to track users both on the website and in mobile apps. Thanks to this, marketers can more precisely assess the effectiveness of campaigns carried out in various channels, including those previously considered to convert less well.
PromoTraffic experts point out that the new generation of analytics requires specialists to change their approach — from measuring individual contacts to analyzing the entire customer lifecycle. Although the tool still has shortcomings and not everyone has implemented it, better tracking of cross-device traffic may in the future affect the pricing of promotional campaigns.
