Since July 2023, Universal Analytics has been fully deprecated, leaving Shopify merchants to rely on Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for all their website analytics. GA4 is not a simple replacement of Universal Analytics; it represents a fundamental shift in how data is collected, processed, and reported. Unlike Universal Analytics’ session-based model, GA4 is event-driven, tracking each user interaction as unique events with flexible parameters.
Getting GA4 right is essential. Without proper implementation, you risk:
- Missing or incorrectly reported revenue
- Losing insight into the customer journey
- Inflated or inaccurate marketing metrics
- Poor attribution across ads, campaigns, and devices
This guide will give you a detailed, step-by-step walkthrough of our preferred GA4 installation methods for your Shopify store in 2026, including:
- Step-by-step setups for the Google & YouTube Channel App, GTM, gtag.js, and third-party Shopify apps
- How to track product views, cart actions, checkout steps, and purchases
- Tips for testing, debugging, and validating your data to avoid common errors
Whether you’re a small business or large-scale enterprise, following these steps will help you collect reliable data, make data-driven decisions, and optimise your marketing spend.
Why GA4 Matters For Shopify Stores
GA4 is now Google’s primary analytics platform, with Universal Analytics no longer collecting data (all historical UA properties are now read-only). For Shopify merchants, this means that installing GA4 is no longer optional, but an essential foundation for understanding user behaviour, measuring marketing performance, and optimising conversions.
How GA4 is Different from Universal Analytics
Universal Analytics was built around the concept of sessions. Each visit was grouped into a session, with pageviews, events, and transactions attached to it. While familiar, this model struggled with:
- Cross-device user journeys
- App and web data combined
- Privacy restrictions and cookie limitations
GA4 takes a fundamentally different approach. Everything is an event, including:
- Page views
- Scrolls
- Clicks
- Product interactions
- Purchases
Each event can carry custom parameters, allowing for far more granular measurement than UA ever supported.
Benefits of GA4 for Shopify
When GA4 is implemented correctly on Shopify, merchants gain:
- More accurate ecommerce reporting, especially for returning and multi-device users
- Improved attribution modelling, helping merchants identify which channels actually drive revenue
- Clearer product-level insights, including item views, add-to-cart rates, and purchase conversions
- Privacy-first measurement, including consent mode and data modelling
- Deeper customisation, allowing you to track almost any interaction
GA4 also integrates more tightly with Google Ads, BigQuery, server-side tracking, and AI-driven analysis, making it far more powerful in the long term.
The Risks of Incorrect GA4 Setup
Without a proper GA4 installation, your Shopify store risks:
- Missing or under-reported revenue
- Broken Google Ads conversion tracking
- Inflated or deflated add-to-cart metrics
- Incomplete customer journey analysis
- Poor marketing-based decision-making
Method 1: Install GA4 via the Shopify Google & YouTube Sales Channel App
For Shopify merchants looking for the simplest, fastest way to connect GA4, the Google & YouTube Sales Channel app offers a code-free, beginner-friendly solution. Originally designed to integrate Shopify with Google Merchant Centre, Google Shopping, YouTube product listings, and Google Ads campaigns, this app also allows you to link your store directly to GA4. While it won’t capture every advanced e-commerce or checkout event, it provides a solid foundation for new or lower-volume stores and allows you to begin measuring conversions and marketing performance immediately. Best For
- Beginners
- Small Shopify stores
- Merchants with no technical resources
Why This Method Exists
Shopify created this integration to help merchants get started quickly with Google’s ecosystem. As a result, it prioritises ease of use over tracking depth.
Reasons You Might Choose This Method
You may want this setup if:
- Your store is new or relatively low-volume
- You want GA4 running without dealing with code
- You are already using Google Shopping
- You do not rely heavily on analytics for optimisation
- You only need the highest level of reporting
How to Install and Connect GA4 via the Shopify Google & YouTube Sales Channel App
- Go to Shopify Admin → Settings → Apps and sales channels
- Open Google & YouTube
- Click Connect Google Account
- Select or create a GA4 property
- Confirm the connection
Once completed, GA4 will start collecting basic data immediately.
What Events Are Automatically Tracked
As it begins to collect data, GA4 will start to track the following:
- page_view
- session_start
- traffic_source data
- limited purchase data
Some events that may be missing or unreliable with this method are:
- coupon usage
- product lists
How to Test
GA4 Realtime Reports
- Open your site in a new browser tab
- Go to GA4 > Realtime
- Look for page_view and session_start
- Place a test order and check for purchase
Google Tag Assistant
- Install the Chrome extension
- Reload your store
- Verify GA4 tags and event firing
Method 2: Install GA4 Using Google Tag Manager (GTM)
For merchants who want full control and flexibility over their GA4 tracking, Google Tag Manager (GTM) is the most scalable and versatile solution for Shopify. Rather than embedding multiple scripts directly into your theme, GTM acts as a central management system for all analytics, advertising, and tracking tags.
With GTM, you can track everything from product detail views and add-to-cart clicks to checkout steps, coupon usage, and AI interactions. It also makes future updates easier, as you can add or modify events without touching your Shopify theme, reducing the risk of errors or conflicts. GTM provides a long-term, flexible solution for businesses that are serious about accurate, actionable analytics.
Best For
- Growing Shopify stores
- Marketing teams
- Data-driven businesses
Why Could GTM Be The Preferred Long-Term Solution?
GTM allows you to:
- Implement GA4 properly
- Manage tracking without redeploying theme code
- Create custom e-commerce events
- Connect Google Ads, Meta, TikTok and Pinterest
- Prepare for server-side tracking
When GTM Might Not Be Suitable For Your Business
You may want to avoid GTM if:
- You want zero configuration
- You do not plan on optimising marketing performance
GTM is the most flexible and scalable solution for Shopify GA4 tracking. It allows merchants to capture every key ecommerce event, custom interaction, and AI-driven engagement without repeatedly editing theme code. While the setup is more technical than using the Google & YouTube app, the investment pays off with accurate, future-proof data that can support complex marketing strategies and cross-channel attribution. For stores with growing traffic, multiple campaigns, or AI integrations, GTM is often the preferred long-term solution, giving full control over your analytics and the ability to scale as your business continues to evolve.
Method 3: Installing GA4 With Shopify Third-Party Apps
For Shopify merchants who want fast, hands-off GA4 tracking, third-party apps can provide a comprehensive solution. Using a third-party app allows merchants to focus on optimising their marketing, sales, and user experience, rather than troubleshooting technical tracking issues. However, it’s important to choose a reputable provider and verify that the app fully supports your theme, checkout setup, and analytics requirements to avoid data gaps or inconsistencies.
Popular Third-Party Tools include:
- Littledata
- Elevar
- Analyzify
- Triple Whale
- Northbeam
Pros of Using Shopify Third-Party GA4 Apps
- Fastest setup
- Minimal technical effort
- Built-in dashboards
- Support teams
Cons of Using Shopify Third Party GA4 Apps
- Monthly fees
- Vendor lock-in
- Less transparency
- Variable data quality
Third-party apps provide a hands-off, fast-track solution for implementing GA4 on Shopify. They often include pre-built data layers, automated tracking of e-commerce and engagement events, and dashboards for reporting, making them ideal for non-technical teams or merchants with complex setups. However, these apps come with subscription costs, vendor lock-in, and occasional compatibility issues with themes or checkout customisations. They are best suited for merchants who value speed, support, and convenience over full customisation, while still achieving reliable GA4 tracking.
Tracking Additional GA4 Events
While e-commerce events like purchases, add-to-cart actions, and product views are critical, they only tell part of the story. GA4 also enables tracking of non-transactional interactions, giving Shopify merchants deeper insight into how users engage with your content, campaigns, and site features. These engagement events, content performance metrics, and micro-conversions can reveal patterns in user behaviour that inform marketing strategies, content optimisation, and UX improvements.
For example, by tracking newsletter signups, video plays, blog scroll depth, or internal search usage, you can identify which content drives engagement, which calls-to-action are effective, and which site areas may need improvement. Capturing these events in GA4 allows you to measure the full spectrum of user interactions, beyond traditional ecommerce metrics, and link them to conversions, revenue, or long-term customer value.
Beyond ecommerce, GA4 allows you to track:
- Engagement events
- Content performance
- Micro-conversions
Examples of this include:
- Newsletter signups
- Video plays
- Blog scroll depth
- Internal search usage
By tracking these additional engagement and micro-conversion events, you can gain a deeper understanding of how users interact with your store beyond purchases, helping to optimise content, improve user experience, and drive more informed marketing decisions.
Conclusion
Google Analytics 4 has become the essential foundation for e-commerce analytics in 2025, providing Shopify merchants with a flexible, event-driven platform to understand their customer behaviour, optimise marketing spend, and grow their revenue. However, simply installing GA4 is not enough. Choosing the right implementation method for your business will directly impact the accuracy and reliability of your data, depending on your business model and technical skills.
A poorly executed setup can lead to misleading reports, missed conversions, and wasted advertising budgets, making it difficult to optimise your store, understand user journeys, or make business decisions with confidence. A carefully planned and managed GA4 integration ensures that you capture every crucial ecommerce event, from product views and add-to-cart actions to checkout completions and revenue figures, while also enabling deeper tracking of AI-driven interactions, personalised experiences, and engagement metrics.
Depending on your store size, technical expertise, and marketing requirements, you may choose from multiple implementation methods:
- Google & YouTube Channel App: The fastest, beginner-friendly way to connect GA4, ideal for small stores or merchants just starting out.
- Google Tag Manager (GTM): The most flexible and scalable solution, perfect for growing stores that need full control over events, custom parameters, and cross-channel attribution.
- Third-Party Shopify Apps: Tools such as Littledata, Elevar, or Analyzify simplify implementation and provide pre-built data layers, but be aware that these often come with subscription costs.
Each method has its pros and cons, along with differing levels of complexity, and your choice should align with your business goals, marketing strategy, and technical resources. Regardless of the method you choose, for all Shopify store owners, the end goal remains the same: to ensure that your GA4 setup captures accurate, reliable, and actionable data that supports your decision-making and helps you to scale as your store grows.
Implementing GA4 correctly also sets the stage for advanced analytics capabilities, including server-side tracking, custom dimensions, and cross-domain measurement, giving your Shopify store a competitive edge in marketing intelligence and data-driven optimisation.
Ultimately, whether you opt for a simple, fast setup or a fully customised GTM solution, accuracy and completeness of data are essential. For many merchants, partnering with an expert Shopify agency can ensure that your GA4 implementation is done correctly the first time, preventing costly mistakes, improving ad efficiency, and keeping your strategy clear.
If you’re looking to implement GA4 on Shopify or troubleshoot existing tracking issues, our team of specialists can help. Book a call today to ensure your GA4 setup is accurate, reliable, and ready to support your business growth in 2026 and beyond.