You might have seen the message below in your Shopify store settings about setting up the Google Channel app. What should you do when you see this message? Shopify offers a number of sales channels to make it easy to sell products on different online channels like Facebook and the Shop app. The Google sales channel is a bit different, since 1) it now also includes Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tracking, and 2) it is now managed directly by Google. Although we work with larger merchants at Littledata, who typically use external apps and agency partners to manage sales channels and analytics, we’ve been getting a lot of questions about the recent updates. Here’s a first look at what the Google Channel app does, and how that compares with other ways to set up Google Analytics 4 (GA4). What is the Google Channel app? Shopify launched the Google Channel app back in 2017 to provide an easier way for stores to sell on Google, using Google Ads and Google Shopping. It’s free to install, though of course you pay for the Ads ;) “Sync your products to Google Merchant Center, list products for free on Search, YouTube and more and even run paid Performance Max campaigns.” In the relaunch in March 2023 Shopify/Google added tracking for GA4, along with better support for Google PMax (Performance Max) campaigns. Shopify wants to offer you with a no-code install process for GA4, but adding the Google Channel won’t “avoid any data disruptions” for all stores. [subscribe] Why Shopify is moving GA4 tracking to the Google Channel Universal Analytics - the previous GA version - will stop collecting data on 1st July 2023, so Shopify was under pressure from customers to offer in-built GA4 tracking ahead of that deadline. GA4 is also Google’s preferred way of tracking conversions in Google Ads, and PMax campaigns need conversions (purchases) tracked to maximize Cost Per Acquisition (CPA). I also think Shopify wants to push support for GA4 onto Google by moving all of the Google connections out of their core platform and into a ‘third party’ app. What’s included in Google Channel tracking? The Google Channel app allows a store to pick a GA4 property and copies most of the ecommerce event tracking available from Shopify to Universal Analytics: Page views Product views (including product name and price) Add to cart Checkout started Purchase (Order completed) [note]Are you tracking conversions in GA4? Find out in 5 minutes with our free order checker app[/note] What are the limitations of Google Channel for tracking GA4? Firstly, the Google Channel is built to work with Google Ads. However, there’s many other reasons to use Google Analytics other than for Google Ads targeting: tracking all marketing channels, understanding on -site conversion, checkout conversion, product performance and more. Shopify hasn’t optimized the tracking for that. So there are some limitations with the events sent to GA: No tracking of product list views or clicks No checkout steps, beyond begin_checkout * No currency field on Product Detail views No reporting on product SKUs No tracking of coupons and discount codes No server-side tracking for accurate orders and revenue No Enhanced Conversions for cross-device tracking of Google Ads * Theoretically, an event is triggered when users add payment info, but we couldn’t get this to fire in multiple tests. See a full comparison with Littledata tracking. Secondly, the GA4 tracking is tightly coupled with the implementation of Google Shopping feed (which has some bugs, judging by the thirty 1-star reviews from the last month) so while you can just use the GA4 part of the Google Channel app, you run the risk of disrupting Google Analytics when you edit Google Ads settings. Thirdly, there are no settings to adjust the Google Channel tracking - so if you want only certain events tracked, or integrate with third-party apps, your hands are tied. "There are no settings to adjust the Google Channel tracking. So if you want only certain events tracked, or integrate with third-party apps, your hands are tied." Lastly, Shopify does not provide full support for GA4 tracking via the Google Channel app. The app is theoretically supported by Google, but Google only provides technical support if you pay $50k+ a year for Google Analytics 360. Other than that you’d need to pay a consultant to check the set up for you. What is the best way to set up GA4? You need to start getting data into GA4 by July this year - not just for analysis, but also for building audiences and retargeting your own customer base in Google Ads. So beyond this app, you have two options: 1. Add Google Tag Manager to your store theme Pros: Reliable page view tracking, simple to customize settings, free to run Cons: No tracking of the checkout steps (even for Plus stores), revenue in GA won’t match revenue in Shopify, lots of time (and developer cost) required to set up all the shopping behavior events 2. Use a proven, highly rated app like Littledata Pros: Reliable tracking of the whole customer journey in GA4, 100% match between orders and revenue in Shopify, no implementation effort, no developers needed, instant data quality; and Littledata is optimized for Shopify Plus, including headless tracking, Shop App tracking and multi-currency tracking in GA4 Cons: Ongoing app charge to maintain data quality [note]Are you tracking conversions in GA4? Find out in 5 minutes with our free order checker app[/note] Why server-side tracking? The basic limitation of the Google Channel is client-side tracking -- which means all the events to Google are sent from the end user’s browser. This isn’t a reliable way to attribute sales to marketing campaigns in an age when many browsers and ad blockers limit tracking. The world of web analytics has changed a lot since Shopify added GA via the Shopify store preferences back in 2014 - but Google Channel isn’t changing how the event data is actually tracked. In contrast, server-side tracking allows apps like Littledata to hook into what is happening on Shopify’s servers from the add to cart onwards. This means 100% of revenue can be tracked and the vast majority (~90%) of that can be linked to a pre-checkout user journey and marketing campaign. There’s many apps that promise to ‘fix’ marketing attribution (Rockerbox, Northbeam, etc), but the only way to get truly reliable tracking of orders and revenue is server-side tracking. What your store should do today While I understand that Shopify wants to provide an out-the-box integration with Google Analytics for smaller stores, this Google Channel won’t be suitable for any scaling brand spending heavily on online customer acquisition and retention. You DO need to start tracking in Google Analytics 4 ASAP! If your brand turns over less than $1M a year, and you don’t have the time to dive into marketing attribution and targeting, then the Google Channel may be enough right now. And that's great! But if you are doing $1M+, or need to dive into the details of what drives customers to purchase, then I don’t think the Google Channel will be robust enough for you. If you're ready to be truly data-driven this year, consider applying for a Littledata Plus plan so we can support you fully with higher SLAs and analytics training for your team. Shopify has reason to launch limited free apps (eg reviews, email and geolocation) to address the concern that their sticker price doesn’t reflect all the paid app add-ons you need to run a store. Yet professionals at growing brands know you need paid apps to guarantee quality and support. Littledata’s Google Analytics connection is no exception -- try it for free in the Shopify App store today!

Each year, The Lead honors 50 digitally native, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands that are challenging the industry norms and changing the way we do business online. 2023’s list just dropped and we’re thrilled to see so many of Littledata’s favorite brands celebrated for breaking the mold and redefining the future of ecommerce. Athletic Brewing Co. The craft beer industry is booming! And for health-conscious consumers, who want to enjoy an artisanal brew without the buzz, Athletic Brewing is the way to go! Since 2018, Athletic Brewing has offered a wide range of great-tasting, non-alcoholic beers, delivered straight to your front door. Five years later and Athletic Brewing is the largest non-alcoholic beer brand in the world, recently expanding operations across North America and Europe. But global expansion has its challenges, including unique preferences in both product and marketing.  To succeed in the global marketplace, it’s critical that Athletic Brewing tests different site layouts, product displays, and marketing strategies. By leveraging Littledata’s Google Analytics app for Shopify Plus stores, Athletic Brewing has an accurate view of their A/B test performance and can fuel their business decisions with real results. Don’t just take our word for it though, here is what Athletic Brewing said about Littledata: “​​Great tool that provides valuable information and insights for our eComm business. A must-have for back-end Google Analytics management and data connections. Customer support is top-notch with quick response and friendly service. Setup is easy and has really expanded our reporting capabilities.” — Athletic Brewing Company Littledata’s Google Analytics connection and advanced Recharge tracking give subscription brands like Athletic Brewing a deeper understanding of their customer’s lifetime value (LTV) and how it varies by product and channel. LTV is a crucial metric for any ecommerce brand, but especially for brands selling by subscription, revealing which product lines have the most loyal and profitable customers and which marketing channels are converting those high-LTV customers.  How Athletic Brewing leverages data With accurate LTV insights by channel, Athletic Brewing identified their top-performing channels and doubled down on their most profitable campaigns. They were able to boost conversion and retention rates, without increasing their ad budget or customer acquisition costs (CAC). Through optimizing their paid campaigns, Athletic Brewing successfully reached high-LTV customers.  BloomChic BloomChic is a digitally native, DTC clothing and lifestyle brand for the modern woman. Built on the philosophy “Live with ease, dress with joy,” BloomChic is dedicated to offering affordable, stylish, and comfortable clothes for women sizes 10-30. BloomChic has scaled their Shopify Plus store internationally to empower women around the world through accessible, inclusive fashion. After the release of iOS 14, ecommerce brands struggled to understand where their customers were coming from and which campaigns were converting them. BloomChic was no exception. As a fast-growing, data-driven brand, setting up Littledata’s Google Analytics connection was a no-brainer. The more data BloomChic captures about their global audience, the better they can optimize their marketing campaigns and boost conversions. By employing Littledata’s server-side tracking solution, BloomChic unlocked a complete picture of the customer journey. From discovery at the source to post-purchase events, they fixed their attribution dilemma and continue to scale their top-performing campaigns and marketing channels. How BloomChic leverages data When it comes to website optimization and UI/UX decisions, browsing behavior speaks volumes. BloomChic relies on accurate browsing and checkout behavior to optimize the user journey, identifying key customer touchpoints, which interactions lead to higher conversion rates, and where customers drop off during the checkout process. By leveraging accurate Shopify data in Google Analytics, BloomChic has improved their customer journey, optimizing conversion touchpoints for higher conversion rates and revenue. Bobbie Bobbie is shaking the stigma of how mothers choose to feed their babies. Bobbie’s revolutionary baby formula is the first European-inspired recipe to be approved by the FDA. As a mom-founded and led company, Bobbie is designed with high-quality ingredients and affordability and accessibility in mind. One of the biggest challenges new moms face is a lack of time in their newfound routines. Bobbie helps to support busy moms by offering convenient delivery options, including flexible subscriptions — easily pause, edit, or cancel your subscription at any time. Retention is always the goal — especially when it comes to subscription-based businesses — but the key to retaining customers lies in understanding them. And while Shopify’s standard Google Analytics tracking misses between 30 and 90% of orders for non-standard, subscription checkouts, Bobbie leverages Littledata’s plug-and-play Recharge connection to capture complete customer data, including post-purchase events like subscriptions. With complete subscription data at their fingertips, the Bobbie team is able to perfect their retargeting campaigns, optimize their subscriber experience, and never miss out on a loyalty opportunity. How Bobbie leverages data The majority of Bobbie’s sales are recurring orders, which makes complete subscription data an essential piece of their business. With accurate insights into their recurring orders, Bobbie’s management team can project quarterly and annual sales with ease and accuracy, helping them improve ecommerce logistics in ordering and managing inventory. By matching demand to their upcoming sales, Bobbie saves more on overhead costs, maximizes profit, and inventory doesn’t go to waste. [tip] Do you trust your subscription tracking? Download the Recharge smart connection guide to learn how to capture complete subscriber data in Google Analytics. [/tip] Harper Wilde Tired of the over-sexualized, overpriced bra industry, Jenna and Jane set out to create a more comfortable world for women, starting with the basics — bras and underwear. Along came Harper Wilde. Harper Wilde is built on a core belief that every woman deserves to feel comfortable and confident in her own skin, which is why they focus on creating high-quality, comfortable, and affordable undergarments for women of all shapes and sizes. But here’s the thing — they don’t just rely on their intuition to make decisions about their product development and business strategy. They’ve implemented a data-driven approach, powered by Littledata’s Shopify source to Google Analytics, to understand how customers interact with their ecommerce store and marketing campaigns.  With a complete view of their store performance in Google Analytics, Harper Wilde uses data to guide product, marketing, and UI/UX decisions. Accurate churn, retention, and LTV data in Google Analytics fuels critical business strategies, directs decision-making, and leads long-term growth plans. How Harper Wilde leverages data Harper Wilde uses accurate data in Google Analytics to better understand and communicate with their customers. With accurate insights on browsing behavior, Harper Wilde has built out personalized SMS and email marketing campaigns to retarget abandoned carts and engage customers based on their interests, previous purchases, and shopping behavior. By implementing a customer-centric messaging strategy, Harper Wilde has increased revenue, lowered customer acquisition costs, and boosted customer lifetime value. Spot & Tango Since the DTC boom in 2020, new brands have been popping up left and right, offering the products you love from the convenience of your home — and your pup’s favorite meal service is no exception! Spot & Tango specializes in curating custom meal plans based on your dog’s breed, age, weight, and activity level, ensuring that they have the proper nutrition to live a healthy life. And the best part? They use only the freshest, locally sourced ingredients. It’s no surprise that a brand like Spot & Tango has gone headless for maximum flexibility, speed, and personalization opportunities. But headless builds come with their fair share of challenges. Without the right tools, headless Shopify stores struggle with inaccurate and incomplete data across marketing channels, browsing behavior, sales data, and more.  By connecting Spot & Tango’s headless Shopify store to Google Analytics with Littledata, they didn’t skip a beat. Littledata uses server-side tracking to capture complete sales data, checkout events, and marketing attribution for headless setups, no matter how complex. How Spot & Tango leverages data A common challenge headless stores face is the disconnect between the front-end browsing experience and the back-end checkout events. Lucky for Spot & Tango, Littledata stitches together sessions to ensure accurate marketing attribution. They have since leveraged accurate marketing attribution and transaction data across first-time, one-off, and recurring orders to fix their retargeting and cart abandonment campaigns. With a real view of their customers’ behavior, Spot & Tango built out loyalty opportunities, increased customer lifetime value, and reduced acquisition costs through impactful marketing. [tip] Littledata tracks headless Shopify stores in Google Analytics and Segment. [/tip] Conclusion We love that The Lead pays homage to the top DTC brands that are redefining the future of ecommerce, and we’re honored to work hand-in-hand with so many of those incredible brands. Learn more about Littledata: Advanced Facebook Ads via Facebook Conversions API GA4: What Shopify stores should do TODAY to keep up with the new version of Google Analytics Is it possible to track headless Shopify setups? The Ultimate Guide to Subscription Analytics