Unlike in Universal Analytics, the ‘e-commerce conversion rate’ metric is missing in GA4. It does not exist for no apparent reason. However, you can still calculate it.

You can use the ‘user key event rate’ in GA4 to calculate the ecommerce conversion rate with user scope provided you have marked the ‘purchase’ event as a ‘key event‘.

Similarly, 

You can use the ‘session key event rate’ in GA4 to calculate the ecommerce conversion rate with session scope provided you have marked the ‘purchase’ event as a ‘key event’:

So, there are two types of ecommerce conversion rates in GA4:

1) ‘user key event rate’ where the key event =’purchase’.

2) ‘session key event rate’ where the key event =’purchase’.

Prerequisites for reporting on ecommerce conversion rate in GA4

Make sure that you have correctly set up ecommerce tracking in your GA4 property, which fires the ‘purchase’ event:

Note: In GA4, the ‘purchase’ event is automatically marked as key event and you can’t unmark it.

How to find ecommerce conversion rate metrics in GA4?

You can view the ‘user key event rate’ metric via the ‘User acquisition’ standard report or via the exploration report template.

Similarly, 

You can view the ‘session key event rate’ metric via the ‘Traffic acquisition’ standard report or via the exploration report template.

Using the ‘User acquisition’ report to find and report on the ‘user key event rate’.

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Login to your GA4 property and then click on ‘Reports’:

Step-2: Navigate to ‘Acquisition’ > ‘User acquisition’ report:

Step-3: Scroll down the ‘User acquisition’ report until you see the data table and horizontal scroll bar below the table:

Step-4: Drag the horizontal scroll bar all the way to the right:

Step-5: Set ‘Event count’ to ‘Purchase’, ‘Key events’ to ‘Purchase’ and ‘User key event rate’ to ‘Purchase’:

That’s how you can find and report on the ‘User key event rate’ metric via the ‘User acquisition’ report.

Using the ‘Traffic acquisition’ report to find and report on the ‘session key event rate’.

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Login to your GA4 property and then click on ‘Reports’:

Step-2: Navigate to ‘Acquisition’ > ‘Traffic acquisition’ report:

Step-3: Scroll down the ‘Traffic acquisition’ report until you see the data table and horizontal scroll bar below the table:

Step-4: Drag the horizontal scroll bar all the way to the right:

Step-5: Set ‘Event count’ to ‘Purchase’, ‘Key events’ to ‘Purchase’ and ‘Session key event rate’ to ‘Purchase’:

That’s how you can find and report on the ‘Session key event rate’ metric via the ‘Traffic acquisition’ report.

Using exploration report template to calculate and report on the ‘user key event rate’.

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Login to your GA4 property and then click on ‘Explore’.

Step-2: Click on ‘Blank’ to create a new exploration report template:

Step-3: Name your report ‘User Key Event Rate’:

Step-4: Import the following dimensions and metrics to the report:

Dimensions: First user default channel group, Event name.

Metrics: Total users, Purchases, User key event rate.

Step-5: Add the dimension ‘First user default channel group’ to the report by double clicking on it. 

Step-6: Double-click on the metrics one by one to automatically add them to the canvas on the right.

You should now see a canvas like the one below:

Step-7: Scroll down the ‘settings’ column and add the following dimension filter to your report: 

‘Event name’ matches regex ‘session_start|purchase’ 

You should now see the ‘User key event rate’ metric, essentially an e-commerce conversion rate metric with user scope.

My Step-By-Step Blueprint For Learning Google Analytics 4 BigQuery

Get the only ebook on GA4 BigQuery ever published (83 Pages)

Download the FREE ebook

Why does the User key event rate become the ecommerce conversion rate with user scope?

Here, the metric ‘User key event rate’ becomes the ‘E-Commerce Conversion Rate’ with user scope because of the following filter configuration:

‘Event name matches regex session_start|purchase’

The “session_start” event is included to ensure all sessions are counted, but it is not considered a key event.

The “purchase” event is the key event that signifies a conversion.

So, when you use the above filter, only those users will be included in the ecommerce conversion rate calculation which triggers one or more key events.

This effectively transforms the ‘User key event rate’ into the E-Commerce Conversion Rate with user scope.

The e-commerce conversion rate with user scope is calculated as the number of purchases divided by the number of users with one or more purchase events.

Example calculation:

For instance, in the provided data visualization:

Total Users for direct traffic: 43,000

Purchases attributed to direct traffic: 845

The ecommerce conversion rate with user scope = 845/43000 = 1.96%

Using exploration report template to calculate and report on the ‘session key event rate’.

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Login to your GA4 property and then click on ‘Explore’.

Step-2: Click on ‘Blank’ to create a new exploration report template:

Step-3: Name your report ‘Session Key Event Rate’:

Step-4: Import the following dimensions and metrics to the report:

Dimensions: Session default channel group, Event name.

Metrics: Sessions, Purchases, Session key event rate.

Step-5: Add the dimension ‘Session default channel group’ to the report by double clicking on it. 

Step-6: Double-click on the metrics one by one to automatically add them to the canvas on the right.

You should now see a canvas like the one below:

Step-7: Scroll down the ‘settings’ column and add the following dimension filter to your report: 

‘Event name’ matches regex ‘session_start|purchase’ 

You should now see the ‘Session key event rate’ metric, essentially an e-commerce conversion rate metric with session scope:

Why does the Session key event rate become the ecommerce conversion rate with session scope?

Here, the metric ‘Session key event rate’ becomes the ‘E-Commerce Conversion Rate’ with session scope because of the following filter configuration:

‘Event name matches regex session_start|purchase’

The “session_start” event is included to ensure all sessions are counted, but it is not considered a key event.

The “purchase” event is the key event that signifies a conversion.

So, when you use the above filter, all sessions will be included in the ecommerce conversion rate calculation, but only ‘purchase’ events will be counted as key events.

The e-commerce conversion rate with session scope is calculated as the number of purchases divided by the number of sessions with one or more purchase events.

Example Calculation:

For instance, in the provided data visualization:

For direct traffic, the number of purchases is 716.

The total number of sessions is 72,115.

The ecommerce conversion rate with session scope is calculated as 716 / 72,115 = 0.99%

That’s how you can calculate and report the e-commerce conversion rate metric in GA4.