Google eCommerce Tags
For your webshop, effective tracking and analysis of user behavior is crucial for success. It is important to know what your customers buy, when they buy and where they click, so that you can continuously improve your product range, for example. Google Tag Manager eCommerce tags are powerful “signals” to understand customer behavior and gain these valuable insights.
In this article, we will highlight the benefits of Google eCommerce tags for webshops ….
eCommerce tags in detail
Google eCommerce tags are “markers” or signal receivers that you can activate in Google Tag Manager, for example to see whether a customer has made a purchase in the online store, to count returns, to see which products are particularly popular and which are not.
These tags are particularly invaluable for webshops, as they provide insights into the entire customer journey – from product search to shopping cart to checkout and thus provide even more information in your analysis tools.
Technically speaking, Google eCommerce tags are created and activated in Google Tag Manager. In order for the measurement to take place, the Google Tag Manager in the store must also pick up the corresponding signals, i.e. via an integrated Tag Manager code. It generally makes sense to deactivate all the signals that are not required, as the code leads to increased loading times, which is detrimental to the overall performance of your store. A check in Google Page Insights does no harm here to see whether performance is suffering.
Here are some of the functions of Google eCommerce tags:
Product tracking: By adding eCommerce tags, web store owners can track exactly which products are being viewed by users. This enables precise analysis of the most popular items and allows stock levels and marketing strategies to be adjusted accordingly.
Shopping cart behavior: The tags also capture data about the shopping cart, including added and removed products. This helps to identify abandonment rates and make optimizations to increase conversion rates.
Transaction tracking: Of critical importance is the ability to track the entire transaction process. Google eCommerce tags make it possible to analyze sales data in detail, from successful transactions to any problems with payment processing.
Why is this important for you?
Better user experience: The data collected allows webshop operators to optimize the user experience because you can see what’s going on.
Targeted marketing: With detailed information about purchasing behavior, targeted marketing campaigns can be created.
Inventory management: By tracking product movements in the webshop, stock levels can be better managed.
Data analysis
Google eCommerce tags can be evaluated as part of the general analysis in Google Analytics, but also in other analysis tools such as Matomo.
Matomo, for example, can also be operated on your own server and there is less “data outflow” to the US, which is of course viewed critically by the EU in relation to the GDPR. Of course, Google’s entire toolchain is practical, but the use of alternatives makes sense depending on the case.
GDPR and Google Consent Mode V2
With the advent of data protection regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the protection of privacy is a key concern. In principle, it is of course legally mandatory to ask the customer for consent if such analysis tools are installed on the store. A Cookiebot Consent Management Platform (CMP) is recommended, especially in the EU and probably soon in Switzerland too. A CMP offers more than a normal cookie notice and reacts dynamically when such “new” functions or apps are added to the store and draws attention to the relevant GDPR topic. For example, you are reminded to take action and assign the new cookies.
Especially when operating Google Analytics with Google Ads, Google Consent Mode V2 will be mandatory from March 2024. This is a special “setting” in the CMP. You need a CMP that has this function and is also a Google partner.
