3. Standard Ecommerce Tracking with GA4 via GTM

After setting up the basic GA4 Configuration Tag, the next step is to configure Google Tag Manager (GTM) to capture and send detailed ecommerce events from Showpass to your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property.

Purpose

This setup allows you to track user interactions with your products and events, such as viewing items, adding to cart, initiating checkout, and completing purchases. This data is crucial for understanding your sales funnel and customer behavior.

Showpass sends ecommerce data to the Data Layer. This GTM configuration will listen for these Data Layer events and forward them to GA4.

Step 1: Create an Ecommerce Events Trigger

This trigger will fire your GA4 ecommerce tag whenever one of the specified Showpass ecommerce events occurs.

  1. In your GTM container, go to Triggers and click New
  2. Name your trigger: A descriptive name like Custom - Showpass Ecommerce Events or Ecommerce Triggers | All Events
  3. Trigger Configuration:
    • Click Choose a trigger type to begin setup...
    • Select Custom Event
    • Event name: Enter the following, using a pipe | to separate event names:
      view_item|add_to_cart|remove_from_cart|begin_checkout|purchase|ecommerce_clear

      Note: ecommerce_clear is a custom event that clears the ecommerce cache in the data layer

    • Check the box for Use regex matching. This allows the trigger to fire on any of the listed events
    • This trigger fires on: Select All Custom Events
  4. Click Save

Step 2: Create the GA4 Ecommerce Event Tag

This tag will send the ecommerce data to GA4.

  1. In your GTM container, go to Tags and click New
  2. Name your tag: A descriptive name like GA4 - Ecommerce Event Tracking or Ecommerce Tracking
  3. Tag Configuration:
    • Click Choose a tag type to begin setup...
    • Select Google Analytics: GA4 Event
    • Measurement ID: Enter your GA4 Measurement ID (e.g., G-XXXXXXXXXX). This should be the same ID used in your GA4 Configuration Tag

      Tip: You can create a Constant Variable in GTM for your Measurement ID to reuse it easily and avoid typos. For example, create a variable named {{GA4 Measurement ID}} and use that here.

    • Event Name: Click the variable icon (the lego block with a plus) next to the field and select "Event". You'll see it automatically put {{Event}} in the field. This is a built-in GTM variable that automatically captures the name of the event from the Data Layer (e.g., view_item, add_to_cart)
    • Click on More Settings
    • Under the Ecommerce section:
      • Check the box Send Ecommerce data
      • Data source: Ensure it is set to Data Layer
  4. Triggering:
    • Click Choose a trigger to make this tag fire...
    • Select the trigger you created in Step 1 (e.g., Custom - Showpass Ecommerce Events)
  5. Click Save

Step 3: Publish Your GTM Container

  1. In GTM, click the Submit button in the top right corner
  2. Enter a Version Name (e.g., "Added GA4 Ecommerce Tracking") and an optional Version Description
  3. Click Publish

Step 4: Test Your Ecommerce Tracking

It's crucial to test your setup to ensure data is flowing correctly.

  1. Enable GTM Preview Mode: In your GTM container, click Preview in the top right
    • Enter the URL of a page where Showpass events occur (e.g., an event page on Showpass.com if your GTM is live there, or a page on your website with an embedded Showpass widget)
    • Click Connect. A new browser window or tab will open with your page, and the Tag Assistant debug panel will connect at the bottom or in a separate window. Don't close the window during the test
  2. Perform Ecommerce Actions: On your website or Showpass page:
    • View an event/product (view_item)
    • Add an item to the cart (add_to_cart)
    • Initiate checkout (begin_checkout)
    • Complete a test purchase (purchase)
  3. Observe Tag Assistant:
    • In the Tag Assistant debug panel, look for your custom event names (e.g., add_to_cart) appearing in the event timeline on the left
    • Click on each event. In the right panel, verify that your GA4 Ecommerce Event tag fired
    • Check the "Variables" tab to see the ecommerce Data Layer variables populated correctly
  4. Verify in GA4:
    • Go to your GA4 property in Google Analytics
    • Navigate to Reports > Realtime
    • Look for your ecommerce events appearing in the realtime report

Note: If you encounter issues, ensure your trigger is configured correctly, the ecommerce data is being pushed to the Data Layer by Showpass, and there are no errors in the Tag Assistant console.

Your standard ecommerce tracking is now set up. Next, you can implement cross-domain tracking or custom conversion tracking as needed.