How to Set Up Google Analytics 4 for E-commerce

In the world of online retail, guessing is a recipe for wasted budget. Setting up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for your e-commerce store is the single most important thing you can do to understand where your customers are coming from—whether that’s a Facebook ad or a local Brisbane search—and exactly what they do before hitting that 'Buy Now' button.

Without proper e-commerce tracking, you're essentially flying blind. You might see traffic increasing, but you won't know which products are being viewed most often, where people are dropping out of your checkout funnel, or which marketing channels are actually putting money in your bank account.

Prerequisites: What You’ll Need Before We Start

Before we dive into the technical bits, make sure you have these ready:

• A Google Account: Ideally one linked to your business email.
• Access to your website backend: Whether it's Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or a custom build.
• Google Tag Manager (GTM) installed: While not strictly mandatory, using GTM is the 'gold standard' for Australian businesses. It makes managing your tracking much easier down the road.
• Your ABN/Business Details: Just to ensure your property settings (timezone and currency) are correctly aligned with Australian standards.

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Step 1: Create Your GA4 Property

First things first, we need to create the 'bucket' where your data will live. If you already have a basic GA4 property, you can skip to Step 2, but I recommend checking your settings here anyway.

• Go to analytics.google.com.
• Click the Admin gear icon in the bottom left-hand corner. (Google loves moving this, but it's usually a grey cog).
• Click the blue + Create button and select Property.
• Property Name: Use something clear like "[Business Name] – Main Website".
• Reporting Time Zone: This is a big one. Change this to Australia and select your local city (e.g., Brisbane). If you leave it as US time, your sales data will look like it happened yesterday or tomorrow, which makes matching it to your bank statements a nightmare.
• Currency: Change this to Australian Dollar ($). You don't want to be doing mental math on exchange rates every time you check your revenue.

Step 2: Set Up Your Data Stream

Now we need to tell Google where the data is coming from.

• Under the 'Data collection and modification' menu, click Data Streams.
• Choose Web.
• Enter your Website URL (e.g., www.yourstore.com.au) and a Stream name (e.g., "Web Stream").
• Enhanced Measurement: Keep this ON. This automatically tracks things like scrolls, outbound clicks, and site searches. It's a lifesaver.
• Click Create stream.

Step 3: Configure Your E-commerce Settings

Unlike the old version of Analytics, GA4 doesn't have a simple 'Enable E-commerce' toggle. It’s designed to be smarter, but that makes the setup a bit more 'fiddly'.

• In the Admin panel, under 'Data display', click Events.
• You won't see e-commerce events here yet (like purchase or add_to_cart) because we haven't sent any data.
• Go to DebugView (also under 'Data display'). This is your best friend. It allows you to see data flowing in real-time while you test. Keep this window open.

Step 4: Connecting GA4 to Your Store

This is where the path diverges depending on what platform you use. This is the part where most people get stuck, so I'll cover the most common Australian scenarios.

Option A: Shopify (The Easiest Way)

• Log into Shopify Admin.
• Go to Online Store > Preferences.
• Scroll down to the Google Analytics section and click 'Manage pixel here'.
• Follow the prompts to connect the official Google Sales Channel app. It will ask you to select your GA4 property from a dropdown.
• Shopify handles all the 'Data Layer' stuff for you—meaning it automatically tells Google when a purchase happens.

Option B: WooCommerce (WordPress)

• Install the 'Google Listings and Ads' plugin (official) or 'GTM4WP' by Thomas Geiger (which I personally prefer for its flexibility).
• If using GTM4WP, go to Settings > Google Tag Manager > Integration > WooCommerce.
• Check the box for 'Track enhanced e-commerce'.
• This plugin pushes all your product data into what we call a 'Data Layer'—a hidden layer of your website that Google can read.

Option C: Google Tag Manager (The Professional Way)

• Create a GA4 Configuration Tag in GTM using your Measurement ID from Step 2.
• Create a GA4 Event Tag.
• Set the Event Name to purchase.
• Under 'More Settings', you'll need to map your parameters (Value, Currency, Transaction ID) to the variables in your Data Layer.

Step 5: Testing Your Purchase Tracking

This is the most important step. Do not skip it! We need to make sure a sale actually registers.

• Open your website in a new 'Incognito' or 'Private' window.
• Go through your store and add an item to the cart.
• Complete a test purchase. (Pro tip: Create a 99% off discount code or use a 'Test Gateway' so you don't actually charge your own credit card full price).
• Go back to your GA4 tab and look at the DebugView we opened in Step 3.
• You should see a timeline of dots. Look for one labelled purchase.
• Click it. You should see the value (e.g., 50.00) and the currency (AUD).

Step 6: Setting Up Conversions

In GA4, every action is an 'Event', but we want to tell Google that a purchase is a 'Conversion' (the most important type of event).

• In the GA4 Admin, go to Conversions.
• You might see purchase already listed there with a toggle turned on. If not, wait 24 hours for it to appear, or click New conversion event and type exactly purchase.
• This tells Google to prioritize this data in your 'Acquisition' reports.

Step 7: Linking to Google Ads

If you're running Google Ads (and let's face it, most Aussie e-commerce brands are), you need to link them. This allows you to see your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) directly in Analytics.

• In GA4 Admin, scroll down to Product Links.
• Click Google Ads Links.
• Click the blue Link button and select your Google Ads account.
• Make sure 'Enable Personalized Advertising' is ON. This is vital for your remarketing lists (showing ads to people who abandoned their cart).

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Double Tracking: If you have the old Universal Analytics code AND a new GA4 plugin, sometimes Shopify or WordPress can double-count sales. Always check your 'Real-time' report to see if one purchase shows up twice.
• Ignoring 'Internal Traffic': Your own visits (and your staff's visits) will skew your data. Go to Data Streams > Configure Tag Settings > Define Internal Traffic and add your office IP address.
• Wrong Currency: I've seen so many Brisbane businesses wondering why their sales look low, only to find they are reporting in USD by default. Check this in Property Settings!

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

Now that your e-commerce tracking is live, you can start looking at the Monetization reports to see which products are your 'hero' items.

If this all feels a bit overwhelming, or if you've looked at your Data Layer and felt a headache coming on, we're here to help. At Local Marketing Group, we specialise in getting the technical bits right so you can focus on running your business.