# Tracking Shopify checkout steps in Google Analytics

## Tracked checkouts

One of the biggest features of Enhanced Ecommerce tracking is support for checkout steps - the navigation path which you expect your website users to follow after they initiate the checkout up to the purchase.

Littledata [tracks the Shopify checkout automatically](https://help.littledata.io/shopify/shopify-checkout-extensibility), to ensure you can use the GA4 checkout funnel report out of the box.

Littledata supports checkout funnel event tracking for:

* Shopify checkout (including Checkout Extensibility) \*
* Accelerated checkouts (Shop Pay, Amazon etc)

\* This includes the same events for both the [one-page checkout](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/checkout-settings/one-page-checkout) rolled out in 2024 and the original three-step checkout.

The Shopify checkout also includes checkout apps handling subscriptions and upsells. i.e. The checkout steps are the same for these customer journeys, but the [resulting order is differentiated](https://help.littledata.io/shopify/tracking-subscription-orders-in-the-shopify-checkout).

## Checkout steps

When the customer starts and progresses through the checkout on your ecommerce site, Littledata sends a **Checkout Step** event to Google Analytics for the following checkout steps:

* Step 1: Contact information
* Step 2: Shipping information
* Step 3: Payment method
* Purchase (Order complete)

{% hint style="success" %}
Check out a detailed list of [all events supported](https://help.littledata.io/advanced/developer/gtm-and-google-analytics-data-layer-for-shopify) in Littledata's GTM and Google Analytics data layer.
{% endhint %}

## Event names and triggers

The checkout journey starts when a **user clicks the checkout button**.

Let's take a closer look at the structure of these events, what we call them when they're triggered, and how they work.

| Step     | GA4 Event Name      | User action                  | Technical trigger                          |
| -------- | ------------------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| 1        | begin\_checkout     | Contact info section viewed  | Checkout created in Shopify for that cart  |
| 2        | add\_shipping\_info | Shipping info section viewed | Customer property added to checkout        |
| 3        | add\_payment\_info  | Payment section viewed       | Shipping lines property addded to checkout |
| Purchase | purchase            | Order completed              | Order is created and marked as PAID        |

### Accelerated checkouts

Littledata works seamlessly with one-click checkouts (like Shop Pay), tracking the purchase and sending it over to the desired destination, as well as attributing it to the original source.

But these accelerated checkouts may lack Checkout Steps - because the nature of the one-click checkout is to bypass the Shopify checkout entirely.

## How the report looks in Google Analytics

After you install Littledata, you will start seeing data populating in your [Checkout Journey report](https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/14000977) with the checkout steps like this:

![Screengrab of the Checkout Journey UI in Google Analytics.](https://3956158252-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1QhTbrMraNWciQeDvu1b%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-4b79bd843738e5313190948337da965b628cf3bb%2Fscreenshot-2023-10-10-at-20.31.20.png?alt=media)

## How to customize your checkout funnel in GA4

The Checkout Journey report is not editable, but you can easily rebuild it using the checkout events sent by Littledata in a Funnel Exploration report.

Here's how to build a checkout funnel in Google Analytics 4.

1. Go to the Explore tab and start a new exploration. In the top left corner, under TECHNIQUE, select **Funnel exploration** and set a name for your report. You'll name this report **Checkout funnel:**

![](https://3956158252-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1QhTbrMraNWciQeDvu1b%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-de2d5ef20934eae5895b79af5aa0383c3ee48b25%2Fscreenshot-2023-01-12-at-14.53.27.png?alt=media)

2. Next, you will need to add the steps to your funnel. Go to the **STEPS** section and click the pencil icon to edit your funnel steps:

![](https://3956158252-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1QhTbrMraNWciQeDvu1b%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-4f14f64a59bc5439aeb4e93d135a5c65ba3725f0%2Fscreenshot-2023-01-12-at-15.04.47.png?alt=media)

3. Next, you will add the steps starting with **Contact Information.** Name your step, then search for the **begin\_checkout** event:

![](https://3956158252-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1QhTbrMraNWciQeDvu1b%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-1af648c5fc0cb3a97bee9b2e260e3ac195b97641%2Fscreenshot-2023-01-12-at-14.03.08.png?alt=media)

4. Click on **Add step** and repeat the process with the **add\_shipping\_info** event:

![](https://3956158252-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1QhTbrMraNWciQeDvu1b%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-58186eb916f32bde020a24dfe5cfa373502d98b6%2Fscreenshot-2023-01-12-at-14.03.30.png?alt=media)

5. Repeat the same process and select the **add\_payment\_info** event for the Payment step:

![](https://3956158252-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1QhTbrMraNWciQeDvu1b%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-e0acbbc08dd1fc700b73a2a9c6d316b0e50ba581%2Fscreenshot-2023-01-12-at-14.04.04.png?alt=media)

6. Lastly, add your purchase step; search for **purchase** and select the event:

![](https://3956158252-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1QhTbrMraNWciQeDvu1b%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-116cb385a4200c81f45a492954a61a6341b4871f%2Fscreenshot-2023-01-12-at-14.04.22.png?alt=media)

7. You now have a complete checkout funnel that showcases data collected during the checkout and the drop from each checkout step:

![](https://3956158252-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F1QhTbrMraNWciQeDvu1b%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-c3a40d829b5427fd7414a4c76e2630233994bba9%2Fscreenshot-2023-01-12-at-14.04.44.png?alt=media)


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