With the release of Google Analytic's Enhanced Ecommerce tracking, Magento shop owners now also have the option to track more powerful shopping and checkout behaviour events. Using a Magento plugin to add the tagging to your store could save a lot of development expense. But choosing a third party library has risks for reliability and future maintenance, so we’ve installed the plugins we could find to review how they work. The options available right now are: Tatvic’s Google Analytics Enhanced Ecommerce plugin (there is also a paid version with extra features) BlueAcorn’s ‘official’ Google Enhanced Ecommerce for Magento plugin Scommerce Mage's Google Enhanced Ecommerce Tracking plugin Anowave – they have a GTM and non-GTM plugin available for €150, but declined to let us test them for this review DIY – send the data directly from Google Tag manager Advanced features Plugin Checkout options? Promotions? Social interactions? Refunds? Tatvic - - - - BlueAcorn  Y  -  -  - Scommerce Y Y - Y Anowave Y Y Y Y DIY setup Y Y - - Our overall scoring Plugin Ease of install Flexibility Privacy Cost Tatvic 4 2 2 Free BlueAcorn 3 1 5 Free Scommerce 3 3 5 £65 / US$98 None (DIY) 1 5 5 Your time! There is no clear winner so choose the plugin that suits your needs best. If you are concerned about data privacy then go for either BlueAcorn or Scommerce, but pick Tatvic's plugin if you prefer easiest installation process. If you want to spend more time capturing further data – like promotions and refunds – you might want to consider implementing the tracking yourself with Google Tag Manager. Tatvic’s plugin Advantages: Fast and easy to install (it took less than an hour to configure everything). Good support by email after installation. Basic shopping behaviour and checkout behaviour steps captured. Disadvantages: It injects a Google Tag Manager container into your site that only Tatvic can control. Some reviewers on Magento Connect raised privacy concerns here, so Tatvic should clarify how and why they use this data. At the very least it is a security flaw, as any Javascript could be injected via that container. * Product impressions are only segmented by product categories - there is no separation for cross-sell, upsell or related products widgets. No support for coupon codes or refunds. * Tatvic can help you configure your own GTM container if their standard setup is an issue for you. Scommerce plugin Advantages: It doesn’t need Google Tag Manager, so you can be sure that no one can add scripts to your site. You can install from Magento Connect. Update on 24 Aug 2015: Supports one page checkout. BlueAcorn plugin Advantages: Easy to install. It doesn't add Google Tag Manager to your site. Disadvantages: You have to set your shop currency to US dollars. Support is slow to respond. Enable Enhanced Ecommerce reporting To be able to install listed plugins for Magento, you will first of all need to enable Enhanced Ecommerce tracking in Google Analytics. If you already have it enabled, you can skip this section. Go to Google Analytics > Admin > View > Ecommerce Settings. Enable Enhanced Ecommerce and set up the checkout funnel steps (see the screenshot for standard checkout steps).  Remove your Google Analytics tracking code from the website. Installing Tatvic’s plugin Go to Magento Connect centre, open the “settings” tab and enable beta extensions.  Go back to the “extensions” tab, paste the link into extension and click 'Install'.  You should see a successful completion message.  Go back to the configuration page. Don't worry if you see 404 error.  Log out and back in again and you shouldn't see the error anymore.  Now add the missing details in the configuration settings, eg Google Analytics account, checkout URL. You should see all the checkout steps working.  Installing BlueAcorn plugin BlueAcorn's plugin supports only stores that have their currency set to US dollars. If your online shop is in any other currency, you won't be able to see most of the data on your product's sales performance. Installing BlueAcorn's plugin is similar to Tatvic's but you have to do two extra steps. Go to the cache store management, select all items, select 'Disable' from the Actions dropdown list and click 'Submit'.  Go to System > Tools > Compilation and click button ‘Disable’.  Install the plugin. Log out and log back in. Re-enable the cache by going back to the cache store management, select all items and enable them. Go to the Google API tab (System > Configuration > Google API), enable plugin and insert your Google Analytics account number.  Installing Scommerce plugin Disable compilation mode by going to System > Tools > Compilation and click 'Disable' button.  Disable Google Analytics API.  Upload module to root folder (PDF). Now flush the cache.   Configure plugin.   If you have any further queries regarding the plugins we reviewed, don't hesitate to let us know in the comments.

I had a truly inspiring day visiting Send a Cow project near Masaka in Uganda. A group of 30 farmers underwent 4 years of training, supported by weekly visits from a social worker and agricultural trainer. From a group living in absolute under-a-dollar-a-day poverty, there are now farmers owning thousands of dollars worth of livestock and selling export crops like coffee. This education and support, plus the capital grant of one animal per household, has transformed their community. Although the success relied on a solid base of family and group cohesion, organised labour and animal husbandry, I want to focus on three aspects which have ongoing potential for the community. 1. Record keeping Yep, data to you and I. Writing daily details of milk yields, crop inputs, market sale prices and even visitor numbers enabled the farmers to measure and improve. Data also allows farmers to forecast and be inspired. Selling a regular surplus of milk from two cows (after family consumption – yes, they have great teeth!) gave the farmer a regular income of US$3.50 per day at the farm gate. That is more than a teacher’s salary in Uganda.  With tender care and back-breaking forage harvesting, they now have a calf being reared – and can count just how much that will mean in further milk and profits. Maybe in 10 years they will be entering yields into a smartphone app, and have market prices forecast automatically. 2. Organic agriculture Oil derivatives (like diesel and fertiliser) are nearly as expensive in Uganda as the UK – in ridiculous contrast to the local market prices for vegetables. Efficient farming therefore has to rely on minimal imported inputs, and maximise the local bounty of sun, rain … and manure. Every precious drop of animal urine is captured – to mix with ash and chilli as an insect repellant for plants – or used neat as a fertiliser. In dry season, every rainfall is maximised, with lots of mulching of vegetables to prevent evaporation; and with a permaculture approach of shading coffee bushes with banana plants, and vegetables under the coffee. I am a fan of organic farming for health and environmental reasons, but out here I just do not see an alternative, cost-effective way to increase crop yields. 3. Peer-to-peer lending Developed-to-developing country lending networks, like Kiva.org, have grown rapidly – but with inevitable problems in vetting funding applications at distance. What farmers need are equivalents of 19th century Europe’s co-operative societies – where savers and lenders from the same area are brought together.  These farmer groups operate a very effective local system. All members pledge to save every month: from just 1 cent a week. Then any member can ask for a short term (maximum 3 month) loan from the fund – which is now $2000. The default rate is low – around 2% - as members know the debtors ability to repay, and can monitor progress in person. Plus every debtor has savings in the scheme – so wants to preserve their share of the capital. Three month loans (and flat 10% interest) make repayments easy to predict – and work in a country where planting to harvest is only 3 months. Uganda’s government abolished co-operatives in the 1990s when they started sponsoring political campaigns. But if these lending clubs can grow they could go some way to unlocking the capital that Africa needs to grow. This post was written by Edward Upton, Founder of Littledata, @eUpton

Every year is jam-packed with conferences, forums and festivals, and I have spent enough time sifting through numerous event programmes for this year. There are plenty of opportunities to learn about new trends and techniques, discuss the future and network with peers, but which major events are worth your time (and money)? Here's my pick of must-attend business, digital and tech conferences in 2015. This list covers events in London only, taking place between March and May. MARCH London Enterprise Festival When: 8-19 March Where: Camden Foundry Twitter: @LEF2015 Hashtag: #LEF2015 The London Enterprise Festival brings together business leaders to share their experiences and stories on this year’s theme, starting and growing a business. Perfect for any company owner, director or manager wondering how to identify trends in their industry and grow in the current business climate. LEF covers various industries over 9 days. From gaming and fashion to education and wellbeing, there is a discussion or workshop for everyone. By having each day very focused on its theme, you have a much better opportunity to connect with the right people and take part in relevant sessions. Bonus points for a feel good factor. The organisers are committed to reinvesting the profits to providing free digital courses to unemployed and subsidising workshops and events that make better entrepreneurs and more powerful networks. Internet of Things Summit When: 12-13 March Where: etc.venues St Paul’s Twitter: @teamrework Hashtag: #IOT2015 The Internet of Things is aimed at technologists, entrepreneurs, innovators, industry leaders and managers. Recommended for futurists and those interested in breakthrough technology and cutting-edge science that will shape our future. It sounds very ominous, but with 200 leading innovators you will explore trends that promise to positively impact our lives and society. Experience two days of revolutionary discoveries, leading research and new technologies with university researchers, Paul Clarke (Ocado) and Jeremy Green (Machina Research). You can get a taste for what to expect at a casual IoT meetup event that's taking place on 28 February in London. Pipeline Conference When: 19 March Where: etc.venues Victoria Twitter: @PipelineConf Hashtag: #PipelineConf If you are looking for something smaller and more intimate, then have a look at a one-day Pipeline Conference. The conference has a more informal feel to it with talks and sessions focused on continuos delivery. The keynote speaker is Linda Rising, an international Agile thought leader, who will discuss the myths and patterns of organisational change. Other speakers will be selected anonymously and announced on or around 23 February. Bonus points for their fantastic commitment to 50/50 gender diversity and donating the profit to after school coding clubs. APRIL Chief Digital Officer Forum When: 9-10 April Where: Park Plaza Victoria Twitter: @IEGroup Hashtag: #DigiLeaders The Chief Digital Officer Forum has an impressive speaker line up that consists of senior digital professionals from global brands. Organised by the Innovation Enterprise, this summit is aimed at anyone with background in digital, analytics, ecommerce, social media and innovation. There are plenty of opportunities to take part in interactive workshops, network with attendees and discuss the future of digital. Join hundreds of other digital leaders at CDOF to hear from experts like Will Burns (L’Occitane en Provence), David Martin (Coca Cola Enterprises), James Keady (Samsung) and others. MAY BriForum London When: 19-20 May Where: etc.venues St. Paul’s Twitter: @BriForum Hashtag: #BriForum BriForum London is a highly technical conference dedicated to the best practices of end user computing, cloud, desktop virtualisation, security and application management. Keynote speaker is Brian Madden, one of the brains behind this event, but we are yet to hear about other speakers and exact topics covered. Nevertheless, BriForum promises to deliver informative two days with high profile speakers and attendees. Digital Shoreditch When: 11-24 May Where: Shoreditch Twitter: @DigiShoreditch Hashtag: #ds15 Digital Shoreditch is the trendiest event on this list. It's a vibrant festival that attracts creative, tech and entrepreneurial people, makers and doers, and others in between. Digital Shoreditch is on for two weeks and with hands-on sessions, cosmic parties and amazing speakers it promises to be one of the biggest digital community events. The full programme is yet to be announced but seeing that Mark Earls (HERD), Rory Sutherland (Ogilvy & Mather UK) and Jeremy Waite (Salesforce) are on the speaker line up, I have no doubts there will be other inspiring people joining them. Bonus points for their visionary look and feel, and Twitter profile photo. UX London 2015 When: 20-22 May Where: Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Twitter: @UXLondon Hashtag: #uxlondon Organised by design consultancy Clearleft, UX London 2015 brings together inspiring UX speakers and practical workshops. The conference is focused on a different theme each day and is aimed at product, web and user experience designers. On day 1 explore the secrets of product design with leading experts, such as Des Traynor (Intercom), Julie Zhuo (Facebook) and Jeff Patton (independent consultant, Agile coach and author). On day 2 improve your understanding of human behaviour and user experience by hearing from Cecilia Weckstrom (LEGO) and taking part in Sketch workshop with Meng To. Day 3 is platforms day. Learn about the latest design trends for mobile, desktop and smart TV, and join workshops and talks on responsiveness, wearable tech and designing for different screen sizes. What other conferences and events have you marked in your diary? Leave a comment below or send a tweet @LittledataUK.

Littledata tool gives you insight into your customers' behaviour online. We look through hundreds of Google Analytics metrics and trends to give you summarised reports, alerts on significant changes, customised tips and benchmarks against competitor sites. This guide explains how we generate your reports and provide actionable analytics. 1. You authorise our app to access your Google Analytics data As a Google Analytics user you will already be sending data to Google every time someone interacts with your website or app. Google Analytics provides an API where our app can query this underlying data and provide summary reports in our own style. But you are only granting us READ access, so there is no possibility that any data or settings in your Google Analytics will change. 2. You pick which view to report on Once you've authorised the access, you pick which Google Analytics view you want to get the reports on. Some people will have multiple views (previously called ‘profiles’) set up for a particular website. They might have subtly different data – for example, one excludes traffic from company offices – so pick the most appropriate one for management reports. We will then ask for your email so we know where to send future alerts to. 3. Every day we look for significant changes and trending pages There are over 100 Google Analytics reports and our clever algorithms scan through all of them to find the most interesting changes to highlight. For all but the largest businesses, day-by-day comparisons are the most appropriate way of spotting changing behaviour on your website. Every morning (around 4am local time) our app fetches your traffic data from the previous day – broken down into relevant segments, like mobile traffic from organic search – and compares it against a pattern from the previous week. This isn’t just signalling whether a metric has changed – web traffic is unpredictable and changes every day (scientists call this ‘noise’). We are looking for how likely that yesterday’s value was out of line with the recent pattern. We express this as signal bars in the app: one bar means there is a 90% chance this result is significant (not chance), two bars means a 99% chance and three bars means 99.9% certain (less than a 1 in 1000 chance it is a fluke). Separately, we look for which individual pages are trending – based on the same probabilistic approach. Mostly this is change in overall views of the page, but sometimes in entrances or bounce rate. If you are not seeing screenshots for particular pages there are a few reasons why: The website URL you entered in Google Analytics may be out of date Your tracking code may run across a number of URLs – e.g. company.com and blog.company.com – and you don’t specify which in Google Analytics The page may be inaccessible to our app – typically because a person needs to login to see it 4. We look for common setup issues The tracking code that you (or your developers) copy and pasted from Google Analytics into your website is only the very basic setup. Tracking custom events and fixing issues like cross-domain tracking and spam referrals can give you more accurate data – and more useful reports from us. Littledata offers setup and consultancy to improve your data collection, or to do further manual audit. This is especially relevant if you are upgrading to Universal Analytics or planning a major site redesign. 5. We email the most significant changes to you Every day - but only if you have significant changes - we generate a summary email, with the highest priority reports you should look at. You can click through on any of these to see a mobile-friendly summary. An example change might be that 'Bounce rate from natural search traffic is down by 8% yesterday'. If you usually get a consistent bounce rate for natural / organic search traffic, and one day that changes, then it should be interesting to investigate why. If you want your colleagues to stay on top of these changes you can add them to the distribution list, or change the frequency of the emails in My Subscriptions. 6. Every Sunday we look for changes over the previous week Every week we look for longer-term trends – which are only visible when comparing the last week with the previous week. You should get more alerts on a Sunday. If you have a site with under 10,000 visits a month, you are likely to see more changes week-by-week than day-by-day.   To check the setup of your reports, login to Littledata tool. For any further questions, please feel free to leave a comment below, contact us via phone or email, or send us a tweet @LittledataUK.

I've been improving my knowledge of Google Analytics this month but found that documentation provided by Google and other heavy research can be difficult to absorb. So here are 6 guides and tools that I found useful in the last month. How to set up campaign tracking Expertise level: Newbie Social media analytics: How to track your marketing campaigns by Cory Rosenfield. When you run an ad, email or social promotion, you want to see which channel is most effective in acquiring visitors. By gathering this information through tracking your campaigns you will be able to focus on winning strategies and make adjustments to less performing ones. Cory’s how to guide takes you through the basics of how to set up campaign tracking with relevant explanations and practical examples. It’s as easy as it gets. What metadata needs fixing Expertise level: Beginner Introducing the Meta and Rich Snippet Tester by Bill Sebald. This tester from RankTank compares your site’s meta and rich snippet data to what you have in your site’s code. You will be able to see mismatches between how you have set your titles and descriptions against what is actually displayed in search results. Want to make sure rich snippets are working correctly or Google doesn’t replace missing meta tags with something unsuitable? Then this tool is for you. How to do keyword research effectively Expertise level: Intermediate Keyword research in 90 minutes by Jeremy Gottlieb. Keyword research for improved content targeting can take a lot of time but it doesn’t have to. Jeremy’s plan splits it into a 4-stage process, full of handy tips on how to spend your time effectively. Especially useful for when planning topics for your blog posts and finding words that are most relevant to include in your product descriptions. Setting up alerts for site errors Expertise level: Intermediate Google Analytics custom alerts which you must always use by Himanshu Sharma. How can you find errors and problems on your website with minimum manual labour? Set up custom alerts in your Google Analytics account with Himanshu's guide. You can create notifications for tracking and shopping cart issues, and any unusual changes in your bounce rate and traffic. How to improve multiscreen experience Expertise level: Advanced Enabling multiscreen tracking with Google Analytics by James Rosewell. This step by step guide by James shows how to get better data on the use of your site across various mobile devices. You will be able to make informed decisions on optimising your site whilst taking into consideration screen sizes and layouts. This means improved experience for customers on bigger smartphones and smaller tablets. Source: Infinium.co What were the different variables again? Expertise level: Advanced Variable guide for Google Tag Manager by Simo Ahava. Variables in Google Tag Manager can be powerful, once you get to grips with them. Simo's comprehensive guide is a useful reference that covers everything you need to know from technical details to set ups and debugging. Source: SimoAhava.com Need some help with Google Analytics? Get in touch with our experts!

2014 saw an increasing number of people buying online. With ever-growing competition, it’s ever more important for retailers to understand what their customers want and how to best serve them. Let’s look at five main ways that shoppers will be dictating what they want from ecommerce retailers in 2015 and how you can track these trends. 1. They’re shopping more on mobile devices Not only are shoppers making more purchases on their laptops and PCs but they’re also increasingly using their mobile devices. Retailers saw mobile transactions grow 40% at the end of the last year and there are no signs of slow down. If you’re sceptical about whether optimising for tablets and smartphones is necessary for your business, add a custom Google Analytics report by Lens10 that will quickly tell you if you should go mobile. It will also show you which devices are being used to access your site so you’ll know where to focus your efforts. 2. They’re using click & collect services In 2014 we saw some of the biggest companies jump on the click & collect bandwagon to allow customers to choose when and where they want to pick up their purchases. Waitrose, Ocado, Amazon partnered with TfL to provide click & collect at tube stations. Argos and eBay teamed up to offer the collection of parcels to eBay buyers from Argos stores nationwide. Online buyers want to enjoy a greater freedom when it comes to their shopping so we expect to see more companies join up to expand their offering. With 76% of digital shoppers predicted to use click & collect service by 2017, many more companies will begin offering the service. It’s time to offer customers the option to pick up purchases on their daily commute. 3. They’re expecting convenient delivery options It’s annoying to go through the online buying process only to be faced with limited and costly delivery options at the checkout page. Customers want more flexibility with how and when their purchase will be delivered and if your competitor offers those better options, then why aren’t you? 50% of online shoppers have abandoned a purchase online due to inconvenient delivery options. This number is staggering and should act as a warning to review your delivery cost, times and the accuracy of information you provide on the site. 4. They want personalised communication As shoppers get snowed under hundreds of emails, their individual experiences have become more important. Whilst a large majority of the businesses, 94%, understand that personalisation is crucial to their strategy it’s surprising that not that many are using the tactics. Econsultancy and Adobe produced a survey that reported 14% rise in sales, which makes a strong case for making marketing more personal. Track your customers’ location, local weather, viewed and bought items, and start testing with personalised marketing campaigns to see what works for your sales. (Chart: How do you (or your clients) measure the benefits of personalisation? | Econsultancy) 5. They’re accelerating online sales UK retailers saw their biggest sales over Christmas period, with digital increasingly getting the bigger share of the overall retail market. In 2014 ecommerce sales broke the £100bn mark for the first time and IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index predicts further growth to £116bn this year Be wary of repeating the mistakes of retailers like Currys, Argos, Tesco and PC World, whose websites couldn’t handle the increased number of visitors on Black Friday. Many customers remained stuck on frustrating holding pages instead of shopping. Check out some useful tips from Econsultancy for how to prepare for Black Friday in 2015. By setting up ecommerce tracking you can understand what shoppers are doing on your website and make informed decisions on further updates to product pages. In 2015 retailers’ success will depend on their ability to meet customers’ expectations and we hope the list above has helped your preparations. If there are any other trends you see growing in 2015, do share them in the comments.

Google has really upped the pace of feature releases on Analytics and Tag Manager in 2014, and we’re betting you may have missed some of the extra functionality that’s been added. In the last 3 months alone we’ve counted 11 major new features. How many have you tried out? Official iPhone app. Monitor your Google Analytics on the go. Set up brand keywords. Separate out branded from non-brand search in reports. Enhanced Ecommerce reporting. Show ecommerce conversion funnels when you tag product and checkout pages. Page Analytics Chrome plugin. Get analytics for a particular page, to replace old in-page analytics. However, it doesn’t work if you are signed into multiple Google Accounts. Notifications about property setup. Troubleshoot common problems like domain mis-matches. Embeded Reports API. So you can build custom dashboards outside of GA quickly. Share tools across GA accounts. Now you can share filters, channel groupings, annotations etc easily between views and properties Tag Assistant Chrome plugin. Easily spot common setup problems on your pages using the Tag Assistant. Built-in user tracking. See our customer tracking guide for the pros and cons. Import historic campaign cost and CRM data (premium only). Previously, imported data would only show up for events added after the data import. Now you can enter a ‘Query Time’ to apply to past events, but only for Premium users. Get unsampled API data (Premium only - developers). Export all your historic data without restrictions Better Management API (for developers). Set up filters, Adwords links and user access programmatically across many accounts. Useful for large companies or agencies with hundreds of web properties.

The Google Docs library for the analytics API provides a great tool for managing complex or repetitive reporting requirements, but it can be tricky to use. It would be great if it was a simple as dropping a spreadsheet formula on a page, but Google’s library stops a few steps short of that - it needs some script around it. This sheet closes that gap, providing a framework for template driven analytics reports in Google Docs. With it you can set up a report template, and click a menu to populate it with your analytics results and run your calculations - without needing to write a line of script - the code is there if you want to build on it, but you can get useful reports without writing a line of script. Prerequisites While you don't have to write code to use this, there are some technical requirements. To get the most out of it you'll need to have: your Google analytics tagging and views set up familiarity with Google’s reporting API familiarity with Google Docs spreadsheets - some knowledge of Google apps scripting is an advantage If you are looking for something more user-friendly or tailored to your needs, contact us and book a consultation to discuss - we can help with your analytics setup and bespoke reporting solutions. Getting started Setting this up takes a few steps, but you only need to do this once: Open the shared Google spreadsheet Make a copy Enter a view ID in the settings sheet - get this from the Google Analytics admin page. Authorise the script Authorise the API - in the API console - this is the only time you need to go into the script view using Tools|Script Editor Once in script editor select Resources|Advanced Google services On the bottom of the Advanced Google services dialogue is a link to the Google Developers Console, follow this and ensure that Google analytcs API is set to On You're done. You can go back to the spreadsheet and run the report (on the Analytics menu). From now on all you need to do is tweak any settings on the template and run the report.   Setting up your own report template You can explore how the template works using the example. Anywhere you want to retrieve value(s) from Google Analytics, place this spreadsheet function on the template: = templateShowMetric(profile, metric, startdate, enddate, dimensions, segment, filters, sort, maxresults) This works as a custom spreadsheet function, for example =templateShowMetric(Settings!$B$2,$B7,Settings!$B$3,Settings!$B$4,$C7,$D7,$E7,$F7,$G7) Note that in the example, several of the references are to the settings sheet, but they don't have to be, you can use any cell or literal value in the formula - it's just a spreadsheet function. To get the values for the API query, I'd suggest using Google’s query explorer. To set this up for a weekly report, say, you would have all the queries reference a single pair of cells with start and end dates. Each week you would change the date cells run the report again - all queries will be run exactly as before, but for the new dates. Using spreadsheet references for query parameters is key. This opens up use of relative and absolute references - for example if you need to run the same query against 50 segments, you list your segments down a column, set up segment as a relative reference, and copy the formula down spreadsheet style. You can use this to do calculations on the sheet and use results in the analytics API, for example you might calculate start and end dates relative to current date. Future posts will cover setting up templates in more detail. Under the hood The templateShowMetric function generates a JSON string. When you trigger the script, the report generator copies everything on the template to the report sheet and: runs any analytics queries specified by a templateShowMetric function removes any formulas that reference the settings sheet (so you can use the settings sheet to pass values to the template, but your reports are not dependant on the settings staying the same)