A Successful Case of Ecommerce Migration to GA4

Introduction

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the future of web analytics. GA4 is a new and improved version of Google’s popular analytics tool that offers more features, flexibility, and insights for online businesses. However, migrating to GA4 can be a daunting task, especially for ecommerce websites that rely on accurate and consistent data to drive their marketing campaigns and sales. That’s why Archery Park NZ, a leading online retailer of archery equipment and accessories, turned to us for help. They wanted to migrate to GA4 while maintaining key reporting in the new platform and take the opportunity to review their marketing tags setup. In this case study, we’ll show you how we helped them migrate to GA4.

Challenge

Archery Park NZ had a complex and challenging situation with their analytics migration. They faced several problems, such as:

• Multiple GA4 properties: Google had automatically created additional GA4 properties for their website without their consent or control. This resulted in confusion, duplication, and inconsistency in their data collection and reporting.
• Inaccurate data: The automatic migration had also caused errors and discrepancies in their data quality and accuracy. For example, some events were not tracked properly, and some conversions were not tracked at all.
• Incorrect ecommerce setup: The ecommerce setup on the website was not done correctly, causing duplicate data to be reported in GA4 and exported to Google Ads. This affected their ability to measure and optimize their ecommerce performance and marketing campaigns.

Solution

We provided a comprehensive and customized solution for Archery Park NZ’s analytics migration. We took the following steps to ensure a smooth and successful transition to GA4:

• Re-implemented GA4 tags and ecommerce via Google Tag Manager: We deleted the existing GA4 properties that were created automatically by Google and created a new one that we had full control over. We then re-implemented the GA4 tags and ecommerce tracking via Google Tag Manager (GTM), following the industry best practices and business needs of Archery Park NZ. We made sure that all the relevant events, parameters, conversions, and metrics were tracked correctly and consistently in GA4.
• Created key custom report and audience in GA4: We created a custom report in GA4 that matched the business needs. We also created a custom audience in GA4 based on the user behaviour during checkout. The custom report and audience enabled Archery Park NZ to analyze and optimize their marketing performance in GA4/Google Ads.

Results

Our solution delivered significant results for Archery Park NZ’s ecommerce performance and marketing campaigns. Here are some of the highlights:

• Single GA4 property as the source of truth: We reduced the number of GA4 properties from 2 to 1, eliminating the confusion, duplication, and inconsistency in their data collection and reporting. We also ensured that the new GA4 property had accurate and reliable data that could be used for confident business decisions.
• Improved conversion actions in Google Ads: We fixed the ecommerce setup in GA4 and GTM, preventing duplicate data from being reported and exported to Google Ads. This improved the accuracy and quality of the conversion actions in Google Ads, which are used by Google to optimize the bidding and targeting of the marketing campaigns.
• Custom report and audience in GA4: We created a custom report in GA4 that showed the key financial metrics and insights for Archery Park NZ’s paid ads campaigns. We also created a custom audience in GA4 that can be used for retargeting in Google Ads. The custom report and audience enabled Archery Park NZ to measure and improve their marketing campaigns.

Quote: “I had a look at the report. Great, it’s what I was hoping to see again.” – Markus Erdmann, Founder at Archery Park NZ.