Monetization—at the end of the day, this is what it’s really all about for ecommerce brands. You need to know what’s making you money and what isn’t so you can continue to make improvements and grow.
For many of us, when we think of analytics for our brand, monetization reports come to mind first. In Google Analytics 4, you can use these reports to see overall revenue from items, ads, and subscriptions, as well as what things specifically are generating revenue for you.
While some of these reports are similar to the ecommerce reports in the old Universal Analytics, many are brand new in GA4. They’re also not difficult to build and start using, so let’s jump in and show you how to set them up for your store.
Tip: Hear former Google’s former Evangelist for Google Analytics Krista Seiden talk through everything you want to know about moving to GA4.
How to create monetization reports in GA4
When we talk about monetization reports, specifically this includes Overview reports, E-commerce Purchase reports, and Retention reports. GA4’s new interface has a whole dropdown section dedicated to monetization reporting in the reports view, and this is where we’ll start when building the report.
After you navigate to this dropdown menu, selecting Overview will show you total revenue, total ad revenue, and ecommerce revenue. This report also shows your total number of purchasers (and first-time purchasers) along with the average purchase revenue per user.
Comparing monetization for users based on demographics
GA4 also allows you to use custom identifiers to create comparisons of different buyers so you can see revenue based on unique shoppers. To do this, click the ‘Add comparison’ icon in the top right of the report screen, then choose the specific identifiers you want to compare by.
Watch the full walkthrough video below to see how to build ecommerce purchases and retention reports.
How to use monetization reports
Aside from the obvious usefulness as an insight into which of your products sell the most, monetization reports help you dig deeper into the nuances of where your revenue is coming from and what’s really driving it.
These reports will help you judge ad campaigns by attributing revenue, and help you zero in on your best buyers using custom identifiers to compare purchases made by different customers.
The ecommerce report shows things like item views, purchases, purchase-to-view rate, and item purchase quantity—all of which will help you judge your product offerings and make changes if necessary.
The retention report shows returning users compared with new users on your site, and even shows them by cohort, so you can determine how well you’re doing at attracting repeat buyers—and what profile those buyers fit.
Get more GA4
Making the move to GA4 is a process, but we’ve got you covered every step of the way. Use our resources below to make the switch painless.
- How to start off on the right foot with GA4 [Podcast]
- How to create source/medium reports in Google Analytics 4
- How to create sales performance reports in Google Analytics 4
- How to build customer behavior reports in Google Analytics 4
Tip: Want an expert’s help setting up GA4 for your store? Book a call and talk to our team about how you can make the leap with just a few clicks.
