Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is Google's web analytics platform, which shifted from a session-based model to an event-based model in 2023. For PrestaShop stores, GA4 is the central tool for measuring commercial performance: conversion rate, revenue, cart abandonment, and customer journey. Understanding GA4 is essential for making data-driven marketing decisions.
GA4 vs Universal Analytics: key differences
Universal Analytics (GA3) structured data around sessions and page views. GA4 adopts a fully event-based model: every user interaction — page view, click, scroll, add to cart, purchase — is an event with its own parameters. This architecture is far better suited to tracking multi-touch and multi-device e-commerce journeys.
Another major difference: GA4 natively integrates cross-platform tracking (web + mobile app in the same property), a machine learning model to fill measurement gaps caused by cookie blocking, and Explore reports far more powerful than Universal Analytics' custom reports. Universal Analytics was permanently shut down in July 2024.
Key GA4 reports for e-commerce
GA4 organizes its reports into four major categories directly relevant to PrestaShop merchants. Acquisition reports show where your visitors come from (organic Google, paid, social, direct, email). Engagement reports measure what visitors do on your site (page views, duration, engagement rate). Monetization reports concentrate all e-commerce data (revenue, transactions, purchase funnel). Retention reports analyze the behavior of returning customers.
Acquisition
Traffic source: organic, paid, social, email, direct. Identify your most profitable channels.
Monetization
Revenue, conversion rate, average order value, purchase funnel. Pinpoint friction in your sales tunnel.
Retention
New vs returning user cohorts. Measure loyalty and long-term customer value.
Essential metrics to monitor
- Sessions and active users: overall traffic volume for the period
- Engagement rate: replaces bounce rate — measures sessions with interaction ≥ 10 seconds
- Conversions: number of 'purchase' events triggered
- Total revenue: turnover generated, excluding tax depending on configuration
- E-commerce conversion rate: transactions / sessions ratio
- Average order value (AOV): revenue / number of transactions
- Cart abandonment: gap between 'add_to_cart' and 'purchase' in the funnel
Setting up GA4 on PrestaShop with Google Tag Manager
The recommended method for deploying GA4 on PrestaShop is via Google Tag Manager (GTM). You install the GTM container on your store once (via a PrestaShop module or by editing templates), then manage all GA4 configuration from the GTM interface without touching code. This lets you modify tracking, add events, or test configurations in minutes.
For enhanced e-commerce tracking, you need to feed the GTM dataLayer with the standard GA4 events: view_item (product page), add_to_cart (add to cart), begin_checkout (start checkout), add_payment_info (payment information), purchase (order confirmation). Each event must pass product parameters (item_id, item_name, price, quantity) for the GA4 e-commerce reports to be complete.
Consent Mode v2: mandatory since March 2024
Advanced e-commerce tracking for PrestaShop
GA4 enables extremely precise tracking of the purchase journey on PrestaShop. Product impressions in lists (view_item_list) show which products are seen but not clicked. The click-through rate on product pages (select_item) reveals the attractiveness of visuals and titles. The add_to_cart → begin_checkout → purchase funnel lets you precisely identify which step customers abandon at. This data helps direct optimizations to high-abandonment pages.