In this article, I will show you, how to correctly set up Google Analytics Shopify Tracking while using Google Tag Manager (GTM).

Are you using Google Tag Manager, or you want to use GTM, for your Shopify store?

If that is the case then do not deploy the Google Analytics tag via Google Tag Manager.

If you used GTM to install Google Analytics on your Shopify store (which you technically can) then your cross-domain tracking won’t work. So do not use GTM to deploy Google Analytics on your Shopify Store.

Let me explain, how Cross-Domain tracking works between your website and Shopify.

Cross-Domain tracking between your website and Shopify

If you are using any Shopify plan (other than ‘Shopify Plus’) then your checkout happens on the Shopify website.

So in order to complete a purchase, your customer must leave your website and land on the checkout, hosted on Shopify website:

In order to track your customers across domains (from your website to your Shopify website), you would need to set up cross-domain tracking.

If you don’t do that, then you won’t be able to track the checkout funnel of your customers.

By default, Shopify automatically sets up cross-domain tracking between your website and its website, provided the following two conditions are met:

#1 You have installed Google Analytics tracking via Shopify (explained later).

#2 You are not deploying Google Analytics tag via Google Tag Manager.

If you used GTM to install Google Analytics on your Shopify store (which you technically can) then your cross-domain tracking won’t work. So do not use GTM to deploy Google Analytics on your Shopify Store.

I know I already mentioned this earlier but it is important to repeat.

However, feel free to use GTM to install other tags (like Hotjar, Adwords Conversion Tracking, etc) on your Shopify store.

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Installing Google Analytics on your Shopify Store

Follow the steps below:

Step-1: Create a new Google Analytics property. If you already have a Google Analytics account then just log in.

Step-2: Navigate to ‘All website data’ view:

Step-3: Navigate to the ‘Admin’ section of your Google Analytics view:

Step-4: Click on ‘Tracking Info’ link under the ‘Property’ column:

Step-5: Click on ‘Tracking Code’ link under ‘Tracking Info’:

Step-6: Select and copy your Google Analytics tracking code.

Step-7: Login to your Shopify store with Admin/full access and then click on ‘Preferences’ under the ‘Online Store’ drop-down menu:

Step-8: Navigate to the ‘Google Analytics’ section and paste your Google Analytics tracking code there:

Once you have added the code, the Google Analytics Section will look like the one below:

Step-9: Click on the ‘Save’ button.

Step-10: Navigate back to the ‘tracking code’ section in your Google Analytics property and then click on the ‘send test traffic’ button:

A window will pop-up which shows your website. Close that window and then see the number of active users:

If you see one or more active users then it means Google Analytics is now installed on your Shopify store.

But you are still not 100% sure whether Google Analytics is correctly installed on your website. For that, you would need to test your checkout funnel.

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Step-11: Navigate to your Shopify store and then add an item to your cart.

Step-12: Click on the ‘checkout’ button to start the checkout process.

Step-13: Look for ‘client id’ (_ga=[some number]) in the URL which starts with https://checkout.shopify.com/….

If you see the client id then it means the cross-domain tracking is working. If not, then something has gone wrong with your Google Analytics set up. 

Make sure you are not the Google Analytics tag via GTM.

Note: If you are new to ‘Client ID’ then read the following two articles:

• Cross-device tracking in google analytics
• Difference between client ID and User ID