Fun fact: Littledata started in the UK! We've continued to expand around the world, but we've retained a core team around London, including Littledata CEO Edward Upton. So some of our team didn't have to travel for to get to the IRX event in Birmingham (in the UK not Alabama...) this week. It's already in full swing and it's been great for our team to catch up with friends and Shopify partners old and new, including tech partners like Klaviyo (they're a headline sponsor of IRX this year) and agency partners like Swanky. We're especially excited for Ed's May 25th panel appearance on developing a data-driven loyalty strategy that drives conversion and customer satisfaction. He's appearing alongside in-house experts from Trinny London, Avon and EvolveYou to chat about how data-driven retention strategies can change the game when it comes to both loyalty, upsells and ultimately customer happiness. Stop by and say hi! Loyalty and retention are common themes these days, as brands of all sizes adapt to CAC constraints and increased online competition from both new digitally native brands and legacy brands that finally made the leap online (often stimulated by the pandemic context). But do you know how to use data to optimize results? The most successful Littledata customers are all using data to improve loyalty and retention. Their top strategies are: Understanding LTV by channel. Knowing AOV, purchase rate and customer lifetime value (LTV) by channel is essential, especially for subscriptions, so you can target customers who will naturally be more loyal. Building out data-driven personalization. Using first-party data to optimize engagement and provide a better customer experience automatically Leveraging customer data and analytics to create targeted and engaging loyalty initiatives. This is where popular apps like and Yotpo, Smile and Loyalty Lion come in. In today's highly competitive Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) landscape, building customer loyalty is crucial for sustainable growth. Brands are using data for everything from product testing to audience building in Facebook and Instagram, and as DTC brands continue to proliferate across a wide range of industries and verticals, implementing effective loyalty programs can provide a competitive edge. If you can't make the panel, feel free to reach out to our data team for a demo of Littledata, a free GA4 data audit, or check out the refcent case study with skincare mavens Geologie, who used Littledata's ecommerce data platform to drive a 25% increase in subscriber retention. Now that's what I call optimization -- whether you spell it optimize or optimise :) PS. Missed the Birmingham show? We'll also be at the London event in October. Stay up to date with our events listing.

With the sunsetting of Universal Analytics (UA) right around the corner, we're especially excited to announce that Littledata now tracks the Recharge checkout in GA4 and Facebook CAPI. It's a super easy way to get accurate, granular subscription data in Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which powers better reporting and Google Ads performance, and Facebook Conversions API (CAPI), which powers better Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads. Recharge was one of our first app integrations after we launched the main platform integration for Shopify in 2017, and it's still one of our most popular data sources. With complete attribution data and LTV tracking that accounts for recurring orders, Littledata's server-side tracking is the secret to how successful Recharge brands improve engagement and conversions on organic channels like Klaviyo and ROI on paid channels like Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Data-driven brands like Grind Coffee and Geologie use Littledata to make better decisions every day. And with full support for GA4, Facebook (Meta) and Instagram Ads, it's now even better. What's new in this release: Recharge checkout steps tracked in GA4 Subscription lifecycle events tracked in GA4 Support for both Shopify and BigCommerce checkouts Option to send subscription events to Facebook Conversions API (CAPI) If you're using Recharge connection we recommend tracking in parallel in GA4. That way you'll automatically have historic data, plus a chance to start playing around with the new platform. Plus you'll save your team a lot of headaches when July rolls around. With GA4's powerful reporting in your hands, you can use Littledata to get a single source of truth about your subscription sales and marketing, from one-off purchases and first-time subscriptions through refunds, subscription updates and recurring orders. Eliminate the guesswork and find your most profitable channels for subscriptions. The updates to our Recharge integration focus on checkout tracking and subscription lifecycle events because our merchants have found this to be the ideal combination to combine data for analysis with data for action (more effective audience building, retargeting, and -- for our Segment users -- marketing automation). We've also made it super easy to automatically send subscription events to Facebook CAPI; brands that do that are cutting their acquisition costs in half! Not using Littledata yet? Get going today with a free 30-day trial. No strings attached. [note]Did you know that Littledata can track headless Recharge setups too? See how[/note]

We're happy to share that G2 has named Littledata a category leader in the E-Commerce Analytics category. G2 is the world’s largest and most trusted software marketplace, and we were honored to be awarded G2's Winter 2023 Leader badge. In the Winter 2023 G2 Grid® Report for E-Commerce Analytics, Littledata emerged as a leader with notably high satisfaction ratings, including a 98% likelihood to recommend the software. Highlights from Littledata's G2 reviews: Littledata named a Leader in the E-Commerce Analytics category Top analytics connector for mid-market brands (typically on Shopify Plus or BigCommerce Enterprise) 5-star reviews across the board, from both data scientists and ecommerce managers Littledata users have a 98% Likelihood to Recommend the software As the only complete, automated server-side tracking for Shopify and BigCommerce stores, Littledata has continued to lead the pack since launching our first Shopify app in 2017. But we aren't letting success go to our heads. “We're not resting on our 5 star laurels,” says Edward Upton, Littledata CEO. “Littledata continues to invest to beat the ad blockers and future-proof your e-commerce data. As recent G2 reviewers have noted, we already offer full support for Google Analytics 4, the new version of Google Analytics, without the need for custom tagging or Google Tag Manager (GTM) setup.” Bianca Dihoiu, Head of Customer Success, notes that the customer success team supports Google Analytics just as much as it supports the Littledata platform: “Accurate data is something every business desires, but it can become tedious to implement and maintain numerous apps and tools in this ever changing ecosystem. Littledata’s automated tracking eliminates the hefty maintenance time and costs typically associated with advanced Google Analytics setups for Shopify sites. As brands start to trust their data again in Google Analytics, our team is here to help with any questions around the new platform and assistance in how to use it.” Littledata achieved the Leader award by receiving positive reviews, from verified users compared to similar products in the E-commerce Analytics category. For inclusion in the quarterly report a product must have received 10 or more reviews, and in 2022 Littledata received 12 independent reviews from verified buyers. "Rankings on G2 reports are based on data provided to us by real software buyers," said Sara Rossio, Chief Product Officer at G2. "Potential buyers know they can trust these insights when researching and selecting software because they’re rooted in vetted, verified, and authentic reviews."  Learn more about what real users have to say (or leave your own review of Littledata) on G2’s Littledata review page!  

We're excited to announce that Littledata now integrates with Klaviyo SMS. The integration is designed to help merchants uncover revenue opportunities in their data -- whether you're doing 100 orders per month or 100,000. The enhanced functionality extends our Klaviyo connection to track SMS messages and campaigns in addition to Klaviyo email campaigns and automations. The best part? It works for any Shopify or BigCommerce store using Google Analytics: Get complete conversion tracking for Klaviyo SMS campaigns in Google Analytics  Compare Klaviyo performance against other channels, such as Facebook Ads Improve marketing ROI with granular LTV data and checkout funnel tracking Works with GA4, the new version of Google Analytics Klaviyo has long been the most popular email solution for Littledata's customers, and we couldn't be more excited to support SMS tracking for a complete Klaviyo integration. As Klaviyo notes, 1 in 3 consumers prefer texts over emails from their favorite brands, and combined email and SMS campaigns can drive ridiculously high revenue for data-driven DTC brands. Being able to see what campaigns are performing well as an Ecommerce Manager, PPC Manager, and Founder was crucial to our current customers and the continued evolution of Littledata's core offering of proving accurate data for DTC brands. To really unlock that revenue potential, merchants need data they can trust across every customer touch point. That's where Littledata comes in. With first-party tracking that works automatically, it's an advanced Google Analytics connection that can be set up in less than 5 minutes so you can get back to business. The most popular app stack we see is Shopify + Klaviyo + Recharge, and with this extended Klaviyo integration we now support granular tracking across that stack. Popular app stacks like this give merchants increased visibility and control over their campaigns, alongside a single source of truth in Google Analytics thanks to Littledata's smart tech.  The new SMS integration works with both Universal Analytics (GA3 or the "old version" of Google Analytics) and Google Analytics 4 (GA4). It's been optimized for GA4 because a) that's where everything is going, and b) the channel groupings and data-driven attribution reporting in GA4 are much more powerful and flexible. [tip]Follow our Klaviyo SMS tracking guide to ensure that your SMS campaigns are tracked correctly by Littledata in Google Analytics[/tip] What is Littledata? Littledata is the top ecommerce data platform for modern DTC brands. Our first-party tracking solution makes it easy to send complete, accurate, unified data to destinations like Google Analytics, Segment and Facebook Ads. We've partnered with Klaviyo, the top ecommerce marketing automation platform, to help you do more with your data. Learn more >>>

Will you join us today at Twilio SIGNAL? Powered by Shopify, Littledata and Twilio Segment, Veronica Beard used 1st-party data to elevate paid social, turning it from a place where they sold markdowns to the channel with the best lifetime value customers (online shoppers with the highest LTV). Find out how >>> Since debuting at New York Fashion Week in 2012 Veronica Beard has continued to expand both offline and online. How did they do it? Not only with good design and solid materials, but with a data-driven approach to growth. Veronica Beard's Head of Data, Maxime Lagresle, is speaking at SIGNAL today to share insights into using first-party data to grow an industry-leading fashion brand. Maxime’s chat is on “How Veronica Beard moved to first-party data, reduced CAC by 20%, and stopped worrying about cookies”. You can register for free here and not to worry about timing -- all sessions are available on demand videos to accomadate different time zones! Powered by Shopify, Littledata and Twilio Segment, Veronica Beard used 1st-party data to reduce CAC by 20% while increasing customer LTV Interested in learning more about how Shopify Plus brands like Veronica Beard use Littledata and Segment together? Dive into a recent case study we did with our friends at johnnie-O who built a personalized user experience with Shopify, Littledata, and Segment. As their agency puts it: "Littledata’s Segment connector saved the day by streamlining the integration and allowing us to bypass what would have been months of planning and development work implementing an ecommerce tracking plan from scratch." Learn more about connecting Shopify and Segment Check out our latest white paper on first-party data Learn more about Littledata Plus Looking for more detailed interview about how to use Shopify and Segment to accelerate growth? Check out our interview with Rothy's about data-driven growth.

GA4, the new version of Google Analytics, is the talk of the town these days. But is it really that different from Universal Analytics? What should DTC brands do today? Littledata is joining forces with some of our top partners in the Shopify and BigCommerce worlds to share insider knowledge about the new version of GA4: what's changing, what isn't, and what it all means for data-driven ecommerce businesses. Join us along with our tech partner Daasity and our agency partner Irish Titan for the ultimate GA4 webinar on Thursday, November 3rd. See you there! [tip] Missed this webinar? You can now watch it here on demand [/tip] As Universal Analytics’ last days approach us, we’re still seeing some confusion among ecommerce merchants on their migration to Google Analytics 4: ⚖️ What are the reporting differences between UA and GA4? 🔌 Why hasn't Shopify offered a plug-and-play solution for GA4? 📈 Will GA4 solve cross-domain tracking issues? 🤔 What exactly is event-based tracking anyway? Save your spot today >> With the busy holiday shopping season approaching quickly, there has never been a more important time to get your data ducks in a row. Register for our free webinar and learn how to quickly enable better tracking with first-party tracking with a free platform that is more reliable and robust than many paid solutions. [tip]Did you know? Google has added many features to GA4 that used to only be available to GA 360 customers (the expensive paid version of Google Analytics)[/tip] Littledata's plug-and-play GA4 integration is now available for Shopify and BigCommerce stores, including subscription tracking and conversion events. We've worked with the top Google Analytics experts to make sure we offer the best solution in the industry. Learn more about our GA4 connection for Shopify and Shopify Plus Learn more about our GA4 connection for BigCommerce Learn more about tracking Universal Analytics and GA4 in parallel Get the GA4 ebook Looking for that extra bump in effectiveness? Check out Littledata Plus for managed onboarding, manual data audits and analytics training.

Setting up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) on Shopify is easy with the right tools, but there is a lot of confusion in the marketplace right now. There are apps offering "GA4 setup" that can't actually help you with tracking (getting accurate data into Analytics), and there are agencies offering detailed GTM tag setup guides for GA4 without mentioning that there are automated solutions for GA4 conversion tracking. This is all very exciting...but also not necessary. The truth is that you don't need custom tagging or reporting, just the right Shopify tracking app for GA4.  What is GA4? It's Google's answer to the modern data stack, in some ways a complement to it (eg. GA4's BigQuery connection, which used to be reserved for GA 360), and in others a replacement for multiple expensive tools that haven't always worked well together. The move toward GA4 started with Google's interest in offering better cross-device and cross-channel tracking, and has been refined with a focus on user privacy -- in other words a world without third-party cookies. As a result, using the right Shopify and GA4 connection now lets you start capturing data about your Shopify store performance that is by default more complex and dynamic than what you might be currently tracking in Universal Analytics (UA, the current version of GA).  GA4 can save you time and money versus a  complex analytics setup, while offering visibility into the entire customer lifecycle, from organic and paid channels through complex browsing behavior and -- essentially -- customer lifetime value (LTV) and purchase count. But at the very least you need to start capturing that data. [note]This doesn't only apply to Shopify stores! If you're on BigCommerce you can use our server-side BigCommerce to GA4 integration[/note] Google has also built in data-driven models for both comparative attribution reporting and predictive analytics, such as in-app purchase probability and overall purchase probability. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First you need to capture the data. We expect some brands to just ignore GA4 until the last minute (I'm expecting some not-so-fun Memorial Day Weekend parties next year in NYC...), but we've also noticed that the top ecommerce managers and data scientists are all doing the same thing: tracking in parallel today, so they will have at least six months of data before making the full switch to GA4. Here's a quick guide to help you make the right moves too. 1. Stop procrastinating Is Google really getting rid of the old version of Google Analytics? The answer is a definitive yes. They are sunsetting the old version of Google Analytics in 2023. You need to be ready, but what does that mean exactly? Is there anything you can do today? Track in parallel today so you will have at least six months of data before making the full switch to GA4 Google formally announced the shift to a new version of Google Analytics back in November 2020, but many DTC brands are still putting off the shift to GA4. While moving to a different version of a tool most online marketers use weekly (if not daily) might sound a bit intimidating, there are two points to remember: Google is one of the most user-friendly companies on the planet and they have already added a bunch of functionality and default reporting templates in GA4 You need to capture data before you can analyze it! As our agency partner CXL writes in their ultimate guide to GA4: "Unlike previous upgrade iterations, GA4 is a brand-new product. This means starting afresh, with a new learning curve to navigate." But at the same time, as they say, "it promises to be the future of analytics, with cross-platform tracking, AI-driven data, and privacy-centric design." We couldn't agree more. Littledata's top 10 reasons to switch to GA4 include both custom funnels and predictive insights. This is especially important for ecommerce brands that want to building shopping funnel reports and LTV cohorts in GA4 that fit their particular business model and customer base. So what should you do today to take advantage of this powerful, free ecommerce reporting? First of all, create a GA4 property! 2. Create a GA4 property Google will not be allowing anybody to import historical data from UA into GA4, so you need to create a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property today if you are serious about seeing performance over time. Luckily, adding a GA4 property is surprisingly easy.  Current GA users (that's most of you) can just head to their Analytics accounts and use the setup assistant.  You should add at least one data stream. (Don't worry, you can add more later.) Data Streams in GA4 replace Views in Universal Analytics, but they're a bit different . Data streams can be any website (or blog, microsite, country store, etc) or mobile app (iOS or Android), and they can be viewed in aggregate or individually. Adding a data stream might sound intimidating, but this can be as simple as adding the URL for your website (eg. "littledata.io"). [tip]Whether you're new to Google Analytics or a longtime user, we recommend turning on the Enhanced Measurement settings, which include useful defaults.[/tip] When you add a data stream, you will have the option to enabled Enhanced Measurement settings. This is highly recommended. Here's more info on what Littledata lets you track automatically in GA4 -- examples include product views, product list views, checkout funnel events and purchases -- and which events are tracked with Enhanced Measurement, such as page views, site search and form interactions. Now that you have set up a GA4 property, it's time to set up your ecommerce tracking. [tip] Use our complementary instant order checker for GA4 to check your property [/tip] 3. Track in Parallel Tracking UA and GA4 in parallel means that you can send data to both destinations at the same time. This lets you capture browsing behavior and sales performance in both places, so you can analyze the data, build comparative attribution models and start to get a sense for how Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 are different -- as well as where they converge. The most accurate way to do this is to use an ecommerce data platform like Littledata to capture ecommerce events by default, including both sales/conversion tracking and marketing attribution (stitching sessions together). We send data directly to GA4. Because we have a pre-built GTM data layer, you don't need to add tags manually! Use a pre-built data layer for GA4 so you don't have to add tags manually Littledata's tracking schema works out of the box to capture both major and minor touch points in the ecommerce journey. When you install Littledata, we instantly start tracking all of the key ecommerce events for you in both UA and GA4, so you'll have the data you need when you're ready to dive into week-on-week and month-on-month analysis. Here's a quick video on tracking in parallel. To get something similar to Enhanced Ecommerce reporting, you'll need to build reports yourselves, so we've also put together a few videos on building ecommerce reports in GA4. These reports are more flexible and dynamic than anything available in UA. It's like having Google Data Studio within Google Analytics for complete reporting. There's even more free content available for subscribers in the app :) Wait, so GA4 is pretty different? GA4 is based on a different type of tracking called event-based tracking, which is is exactly what it sounds like: a more flexible and comprehensive way of tracking everything so you can build granular reports and predictive models based on the endless flow of events and attached parameters. The UA data model focused on sessions and pageviews. GA4 focuses on events, and sessions are no longer broken by a change in campaign "source" (GA4 continues tracking the same session as well as the change in source). But those sessions will not be stitched together automatically with purchase data and Shopify customer IDs. And many Google Tag Manager solutions for GA4 are missing out on the basics, like purchase events, revenue and conversion tracking. If you aren't capturing purchases, how are you supposed to know if your marketing is working? Using Littledata's solution is quick and easy, with both low-code and no-code options. Our ecommerce tracking is deep and comprehensive. When you start a free trial you can choose to send data to both UA and GA4 at no additional cost, with server-side tracking to guarantee accurate data. [subscribe heading="Top-rated GA4 tracking for $99 a month"] Want to know more? Book a free data audit with one of our Google Analytics experts today!

Littledata is excited to announce a major funding round that will help us accelerate growth around the world. The round, which consists of a mix of debt and equity, provides significant runway for Littledata to continue expanding our ecommerce data platform and to keep hiring the best and the brightest in ecommerce analytics. New investors in the round include Tomas Slimas, the co-founder of Oberlo, which Shopify acquired in 2017. “Ecommerce business owners are dealing with an increasingly complex world of ad blockers and omnichannel user flows,” says Slimas. “Littledata helps them see where their revenue is really coming from.” [tip]Learn more about why leading DTC brands around the world trust Littledata for truly accurate analytics.[/tip] In addition to funding from angel investors, Littledata secured a revenue-based loan from Element Finance, a boutique growth finance firm with offices in San Antonio, Texas, and Dublin, Ireland. Element Finance Partner, John Gallagher, commented: “We were impressed with the business (co-founders) Edward and Ari have built, and they have a fantastic vision for moving the business forward.” “This new funding round is central to the next stage of our growth as an ecommerce data platform,” says Edward Upton, founder & CEO of Littledata. “Element Finance in particular had a genuine understanding of where we want to go, and we feel that they will back us all the way. The funding allows Littledata to accelerate on its mission to make it ridiculously easy for direct-to-consumer brands (using Shopify, BigCommerce, and more) to connect their data and understand performance.” The funding will allow Littledata to accelerate product development and marketing to enable more use cases and reach a wider range of brands. “As one of very few automated solutions for server-side tracking — and the only one I know of in the ecommerce space — Littledata has a unique market position,” says Littledata co-founder and CMO, Ari Messer. “This new funding mix allows us to double down on what’s working, while also exploring a wider range of tech partnerships and co-marketing opportunities. We’ve always helped brands get better data for analysis in tools like Google Analytics, but now we’re expanding to enable data for action in tools like Segment, Klaviyo and Facebook (Meta) Ads. It all comes back to our company value of being inspired by data internally and in what we can offer to customers and partners.” Learn more about Littledata by reading our 5-star reviews in the Shopify app store or browsing our partners and available integrations. PS. We're hiring :)