Ecommerce Retailers: Can you use Google Analytics with Shopify?

Author: Rachel Durkan Category: Web Design Date: March 25, 2021

Google Analytics is one of the most popular pieces of digital analytics software available on the web. Because of its stellar reputation, and because it has become the industry standard, we often get asked by our ecommerce customers: Can you use Google Analytics with Shopify?

So, can you use Google Analytics with Shopify?

The answer, which many are pleased to learn, is yes. And there are many advantages that come along with its use, particularly in the competitive ecommerce landscape.

As a web-based retailer, you’re up against similar businesses from across the globe. It takes quite a bit of marketing planning, and a whole lot of consumer analysis, to understand what it takes to be able to drive consumers to your store and not your competitor’s. That’s where Google Analytics comes in.

Installing Google Analytics is one of the simplest and easiest ways to learn about the behaviors of your customers. Once you understand how to interpret the data, you can see what your customers are searching for, what they’re spending the most time looking at, and what drives them away from your site; and then you can use that information to improve your site and your offerings.

Shopify Analytics vs. Google Analytics

We’ve already covered two major questions: Can you use Google Analytics with Shopify? And should you? And, the answer to both is yes. But, why? Couldn’t you just use the built-in Shopify Analytics?

Yes, you could. But there are some limitations to Shopify Analytics that could prove detrimental to your business in the long run. For example, right now Shopify is considered one of the top ecommerce platforms on the web. But if a new and improved platform were to come along and you decided to switch, you’d lose all of your Shopify Analytics data in the move. When you use Google Analytics instead, all of your existing data is stored and merged with the data from your new site, creating a seamless, uninterrupted tracking experience.

GA also offers a handful of features that simply don’t exist in Shopify alone, like Google Tag Manager. According to Google, adding Google Tag Manager in Shopify “gives you the ability to add and update your own tags for conversion tracking, site analytics, remarketing, and more. There are nearly endless ways to track activity across your sites and apps, and the intuitive design lets you change tags whenever you want.” That, of course, is a much more complicated feature that stretches beyond the limits of this blog post, but it’s also one that can really help propel your business forward.

So, to recap one more time, can you use Google Analytics with Shopify? Yes. Should you? Yes. Why? Because together, Shopify and Google Analytics are an enhanced ecommerce dream team.

If your next question is, who can you use for Google Analytics with Shopify setup, you’re in the right place. Contact us today, and one of our team members will be in touch.