This article provides a full explanation and guide to implement and use Google Analytics Enhanced Ecommerce tracking for your online checkouts.
We recommend that the configuration of Google Analytics tracking be executed by an experienced analytics professional or digital marketer. Contact ROLLER Support if you would like to connect with one of our agency partners to execute this upgrade on your behalf.
Enhanced eCommerce Explained
Google Analytics enhanced eCommerce offers critical additional tracking in comparison with standard eCommerce analytics. These features include product views, clicks, add to cart events, remove from cart events, checkout & purchase funnels, promotion views and clicks.
This enables the tracking of users throughout their complete online shopping journey, as well as adding new reports to Google Analytics, such as shopping behaviour, or checkout behaviour:
Before you begin
Before proceeding further its important to determine your current application/usage of Google Analytics in tracking guest interactions with your ROLLER Online Checkouts. This will determine which implementation method to use from the following two options:
No current tracking
For venues that HAVE NOT implemented Google Analytics tracking on their ROLLER online checkouts.
Venues that HAVE NOT previously implemented tracking via Google Tag Manager should proceed with:
Implementing new Google Analytics tracking.
Have implemented tracking
For venues that HAVE implemented Google Analytics tracking or their ROLLER online checkouts.
Venues that HAVE implemented tracking via Google Tag Manager configuration should proceed with:
Updating Google Analytics tracking.
Implementing new Google Analytics tracking
This involves creating a Google Tag Manager container, downloading and importing a [mostly configured] recipe container that we supply. It should take approximately 10 - 15 minutes for someone experienced with Google Analytics and Tag Manager to complete this process.
The steps to complete this implementation are:
- Create a new container & import the template
- Configure the container variables
- Publish the container
- Enable enhanced eCommerce
- Update the legacy checkout GTM settings in ROLLER
- Update your website
- Test
We recommend this should only be attempted by someone experienced in digital analytics with experience using both Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager.
Step 1 - Create new container & import the template
- Click here to download our template GTM container file and save to your local drive;
- Log into Google Tag Manager at https://tagmanager.google.com/#/home;
- Create a new container;
- Import the downloaded template GTM container (from step 1 above).
Step 2 - Configure variables
The template container includes all variables, triggers and tags required, however there are two variables that need to be configured:
- Select the Variables page in Google Tag Manager
- Select the variable named "Google Analytics Tracking ID - Angulartics" and insert your Google Universal Analytics ID (e.g: UA-XXXX-X) and click save.
- Select the variable names "Main Website Domain" and insert your domain name (e.g: mydomain.com normally without the www) and click save.
Step 3 - Publish the new container
In Google Tag Manager save the container change by clicking submit and follow the Google Tag Manager process to publish the container.
Step 4 - Configure Enhanced Ecommerce
To complete this step, log into your Google Analytics account, click Admin and Ecommerce settings from the View panel. Activate (turn on) Enable Ecommerce and Enable Enhanced Ecommerce Reporting as shown below.
Labelling the checkout funnel steps [shown above] are optional, however recommended.
Step 5 - Update the legacy checkout GTM settings
You now need to insert this new Google Tag Manager identifier in ROLLER as follows:
- From Venue Manager, go to Apps > Legacy checkouts > Settings
- In the Google Tag Manager section, enter your new GTM container ID
- Click Activate
Step 6 - Update your website
This new Google Tag Manager container now also needs to be deployed to your website.
Step 7 - Test
Test the new enhanced eCommerce tracking as described in the Testing section of this article.
Updating Google Analytics tracking
This method involves updating your existing container by importing our template container and then disabling some duplicate tags. It should take approximately 5 - 10 minutes for someone experienced with Google Analytics and Tag Manager to complete this process.
The steps to complete this implementation are:
- Import the template container
- Publish the container updates
- Enable enhanced eCommerce
- Test
Step 1 - Import the template container
- Click here to download our template GTM container file and save to your local drive;
- Log into Google Tag Manager at https://tagmanager.google.com/#/home;
- Locate your current container;
- Import the downloaded template GTM container (from step 1 above) however select the option to Merge & Overwrite conflicting tags, triggers and variables as shown below.
If you need help importing containers view the steps here.
Check that the values above match 3 new and 3 modified Tags, 2 new and 2 modified Triggers, 11 new and 6 modified Variables. - Click Confirm to import.
Step 2 - Publish the container updates
In Google Tag Manager save the container change by clicking submit and follow the Google Tag Manager process to publish the container.
Step 3 - Configure Enhanced Ecommerce
To complete this step, log into your Google Analytics account, click Admin and Ecommerce settings from the View panel. Activate (turn on) Enable Ecommerce and Enable Enhanced Ecommerce Reporting as shown below.
Labelling the checkout funnel steps [shown above] is optional, however recommended.
Step 4 - Test
Test the new enhanced eCommerce tracking as described in the Testing section of this article.
Testing
For basic testing we suggest that you interact with your ROLLER online checkout adding items to the order, add-ons and completing a full checkout purchase.
Following the above you can perform a basic test by reviewing Google Analytics and checking the Conversion > Ecommerce statistics reports and checking for new data such in the following reports:
- Shopping Behaviour
- Checkout Behaviour
- Product Performance
Advanced Testing
Enhanced Ecommerce can be difficult to test / debug and Google Tag Assistant recorder doesn't always display all enhanced eCommerce data transmitted.
Instead, we recommend using a combination of GTM’s preview and debug feature, as well as dataSlayer. dataSlayer is a chrome extension which makes it much simpler to check the data being sent to the dataLayer as well as the information being sent to Google Analytics.
- Install dataSlayer;
- Visit your ROLLER online checkout;
- Open developer tools (right-click anywhere and select ‘inspect’)
- Click on the dataSlayer tab;
- Complete enhanced eCommerce interactions (add to cart for example)
You should see the following (your dev tools may look different):
This output shows there was an event, ‘gtm.ecommerce.addToCart’, and that our google analytics tag fired, most importantly we can see it says ‘contains enhanced eCommerce' which means the solution is working as expected.