Overview: Shopify to Google Analytics connection
Updated on 2024-06-11
Shopify is one of the best ecommerce platforms, but Shopify Analytics is very limited when building advanced reports, and the platform's standard integration with Google Analytics - via the Google & YouTube Channel app - is unreliable and incomplete.
Littledata's Shopify Google Analytics connection uses a combination of client-side and server-side tracking to ensure 100% accurate data about your Shopify store in Google Analytics. Littledata automatically integrates with Shopify and Shopify Plus sites to capture every customer touchpoint, including sales, marketing and product performance data.
You can install the Shopify to Google Analytics connection from Littledata's website or the Shopify app store. These are different points of entry to the same app experience.
Connection benefits
- Combination of client-side and server-side tracking to capture browsing activity, orders and refunds
- Accurate marketing attribution
- Custom dimensions for calculating LTV and more
- Minimal, super-fast script and data layer
- Works with headless Shopify setups
- Option to export data from GA4 to a BigQuery data warehouse
- Conect Shopify + Google Ads
Connection details
Littledata's Google Analytics connection works automatically for detailed ecommerce tracking and marketing attribution in GA4. This chart outlines what you can track with Littledata versus Shopify's Google & Youtube Channel, which is their default GA4 integration.
| Essentials | Google Channel | Littledata |
|---|---|---|
| Basic ecommerce events | ✔ | ✔ |
| Exact revenue in GA | ✔ | |
| Accurate sales attribution to source of visit | ✔ | |
| All checkout funnel steps tracked | ✔ | |
| Subscription & upsell tracking | ✔ | |
| Support from Google Analytics Experts | ✔ |
| Ecommerce Behavior | Google Channel | Littledata |
|---|---|---|
| Product list view | ✔ | |
| Product list views tracked as you scroll | ✔ | |
| Clicking on a product in the list | ✔ | |
| Product detail view | ✔ | ✔ |
| Product detail view when a new variant is selected | ✔ | |
| Product image clicks | ✔ | |
| Add to cart | ✔ | ✔ |
| Remove from cart | ✔ | |
| Social shares of products | ✔ | |
| Begin checkout | ✔ | ✔ |
| Add shipping info | ✔ | |
| Add payment info | ✔ | |
| Orders / Purchases | ✔ | ✔ |
| Orders sent server-side for 100% accuracy | ✔ | |
| Post-purchase upsells | ✔ | |
| Refunds | ✔ |
| Custom dimensions | Google Channel | Littledata |
|---|---|---|
| Store name (for multi-store) | ✔ | |
| Shopify Customer ID | ✔ | |
| Last transaction date | ✔ | |
| Purchase count | ✔ | |
| Lifetime Revenue | ✔ | |
| App Name | ✔ | |
| Affiliation | ✔ |
Read more about user properties and custom dimensions
| Recurring orders (from subscription apps like Recharge) | Google Channel | Littledata |
|---|---|---|
| User attribution | ✔ | |
| Linking subscription revenue to marketing campaigns | ✔ | |
| Subscription type differentiation | ✔ | |
| Can calculate Customer Lifetime Value | ✔ | |
| Can calculate Subscriber Churn Rate | ✔ |
Free Google Analytics app
Littledata offers a cut-down version of the server-side Shopify to Google Analytics connection, available as the stand alone 'Littledata - Google Analytics' app for stores looking to fix the data without also activating that data in marketing channels.
Here's how this free app compares with the full Google Analytics connection:
| Feature | Littledata - Google Analytics (Free) | Littledata Customer Tracking (Paid for) |
|---|---|---|
| Accurate server-side revenue tracking | ✔ | ✔ |
| Support for web pixels | ✔ | ✔ |
| Recurring orders / subscription purchases | ✔ | ✔ |
| Support for cookie banners / Consent Mode v2 | ✔ | ✔ |
| Server-side checkout steps | During Beta testing | ✔ |
| Post-purchase upsells, POS orders, Draft orders | During Beta testing | ✔ |
| Other sales channels (TikTok, Amazon etc) | During Beta testing | ✔ |
| Custom event parameters and custom dimensions | ✔ | |
| Order tags and affiliation | ✔ | |
| Advanced settings (product identifier, order identifier etc) | ✔ | |
| Source / medium mapping for other sales channels | ✔ | |
| Filtering orders by sales channel | ✔ | |
| User data and user ID | ✔ |
Learn more
Read more about how to make the most out of Littledata's robust, no-code tracking solution.
- See what reports you can view in GA4
- Customizable data pipeline settings and how to add custom GTM that works with Littledata (such as quiz tracking)
- Install Littledata's Advanced Google Analytics app in the Shopify app store
- Learn how Littledata sends the events from Shopify to Google Analytics