Setting Up Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free analytics tool that helps you track visitors and conversions on your store. To set up Google Analytics, you will need to create and verify your Google account.

We've updated our Google Analytics integration to support Enhanced Ecommerce and Site Search. We've also made the setup easier and code free — all you need is your Google Analytics property ID.

Anyone using a Stencil or Blueprint theme can take advantage of our updated integration, but only those using Cornerstone or who have added Data Tags will get full functionality. See Requirements & Limitations to learn more.

These steps will show you how to set up Google Analytics to take advantage of our new integration and how to connect it with your store.

Requirements & Limitations

• Store must be using Optimized One-Page Checkout.
• Checkout Labeling in Google Analytics must match your store's checkout steps. See Setting up Google Analytics.

To get the most out of Google Analytics Enhanced Ecommerce, you must have data tags in your theme. The "Product List Performance Report" within Google Analytics requires the use of our data tag solution to collect the necessary data. Currently, the only theme that has data tags built in is Cornerstone (2.6.0 or later). If you would like to add data tags into your theme, visit our Developer Docs to learn how.

Creating the Tracking ID

1. Sign into or create your Google Analytics account. Then click Admin.

2. Under Account, click Create Account.

3. Complete the form, then click Get Tracking ID.

4. Accept the Google Analytics Terms of Service Agreement and copy the tracking ID. Note that you will not need to copy any code. It will look something like this:

Setting up Google Analytics

Enhanced Ecommerce

1. After creating the tracking ID, click the Return to Admin Home Arrow to go back to the Admin area.

2. In the Admin area, go to View › Ecommerce Settings.

3. Under Enable Ecommerce, toggle the status to ON. Next, toggle Enable Enhanced Ecommerce Reporting to ON.

4. Under Checkout Labeling, add funnel steps that match your store's checkout steps, then Save your changes. Your funnel steps should look like this:

Site Search

Site Search is a report that can provide you with important insights on how shoppers interact with your store's search function. The data it contains can help answer the following questions:

• How frequently do shoppers use my search box?
• Where do shoppers begin searches and what do they find?
• What are shoppers looking for?

1. In your Google Analytics account, go to Admin › View Settings.

2. Under Site Search Settings, toggle the status to ON. In the Query parameter field, enter the words: search_query and Save your changes.

ENABLING GOOGLE ANALYTICS TRACKING

Once you have successfully generated the tracking ID, it will need to be installed in your BigCommerce store.

1. In the BigCommerce control panel, go to Advanced Settings › Web Analytics.

2. Check the box next to Google Analytics, then click Save.

3. Click the Google Analytics tab that appears at the top of the page.

4. Select Set up Google Analytics with Ecommerce using Property ID (Recommended), paste your tracking ID and Save your changes.

If you are using a Blueprint theme, and you've implemented data tags, you will need to check Enable Data Tags after pasting your tracking ID. This checkbox is only visible to those using a Blueprint theme.

These steps will show you how to set up Google Analytics for Ecommerce Tracking and how to implement the code into your store manually. There are a few notes to be aware before continuing.

• This implementation does not support Enhanced Ecommerce.
• This implementation method can be used with either the Google's analytics.js or the Global Site Tag (gtag.js).
• You must have a dedicated SSL as this feature does not work with the shared .mybigcommerce.com SSL certificate.
• If using the manual setup, Enable DataTags should not be enabled.

Setting up Google Analytics

Ecommerce Tracking

1. In your Google Analytics account, go to Admin › View › Ecommerce Settings.

2. Under Enable Ecommerce, toggle the status to ON and leave Enhanced Ecommerce Settings set to OFF. Save your changes.

3. Copy the following tracking code.

<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-xxxxxxxx-x"></script>
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag('js', new Date());
gtag('config', 'UA-xxxxxxxx-x');

function trackEcommerce() {
    function gaAddTrans(orderID, store, total, tax, shipping, city, state, country, currency) {
        var transaction = {
            id: orderID,
            affiliation: store,
            revenue: total,
            tax: tax,
            shipping: shipping,
            city: city,
            state: state,
            country: country
        };

        if (currency) {
            transaction.currency = currency;
        }

        ga('ecommerce:addTransaction', transaction);
    }
    
    function gaAddItems(orderID, sku, product, variation, price, qty) {
        ga('ecommerce:addItem', {
            id: orderID,
            sku: sku,
            name: product,
            category: variation,
            price: price,
            quantity: qty
        });
    }

    function gaTrackTrans() {
        ga('ecommerce:send');
    }

    function gtagAddTrans(orderID, store, total, tax, shipping, city, state, country, currency) {
        this.transaction = {
            transaction_id: orderID,
            affiliation: store,
            value: total,
            tax: tax,
            shipping: shipping,
            items: []
        };

        if (currency) {
            this.transaction.currency = currency;
        }
    }

    function gtagAddItem(orderID, sku, product, variation, price, qty) {
        this.transaction.items.push({
            id: sku,
            name: product,
            category: variation,
            price: price,
            quantity: qty
        });
    }

    function gtagTrackTrans() {
        gtag('event', 'purchase', this.transaction);        
        this.transaction = null;
    }

    if (typeof gtag === 'function') {
        this._addTrans = gtagAddTrans;
        this._addItem = gtagAddItem;
        this._trackTrans = gtagTrackTrans;
    } else if (typeof ga === 'function') {
        this._addTrans = gaAddTrans;
        this._addItem = gaAddItems;
        this._trackTrans = gaTrackTrans;
    }
}

var pageTracker = new trackEcommerce();

</script>

 

4. Continue to Installing the Tracking Code.

Installing the Tracking Code

Once you have successfully generated the tracking code, it will need to be installed in your BigCommerce store.

1. In the BigCommerce control panel, go to Advanced Settings › Web Analytics.

2. Check the box next to Google Analytics, then Save.

3. Click the Google Analytics tab that appears at the top of the page.

4. Paste the tracking code into the Tracking Code field and replace UA-xxxxxxxx-x with your Google Tracking Number.

5. Save your changes.

To avoid transactions made through a hosted gateway such as PayPal appearing as referrals through Google Analytics, you will need to add the payment gateway to your Referral Exclusion List.

1. In your Google Analytics account, go to Admin › Property › Tracking Info › Referral Exclusion List.

2. Click Add Referral Exclusion.

3. Enter the domain of your payment gateway (e.g. paypal.com) in the Domain field, then click Create to save your changes.