In case you missed the memo, Google announced that they will be sunsetting Universal Analytics by July 2023. This has various repercussions on businesses that rely on Google’s analytics platform to guide business decisions, including ecommerce stores.
Firstly, once Google sunset Universal Analytics, brands will not have access to historical data that would otherwise be accessible via the platform. Secondly, although some technical marketers will be able to complete the migration process to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) themselves, it is relatively complex, and might overwhelm non-technical store owners and teams. This could result in outsourcing migration to GA4. Lastly, although GA4 is comparable to Universal Analytics, there are differences in metrics and tracking methods that will take some adjusting to.
Not to worry though, we’ve azerbaijan mobile database explored GA4 ourselves and have highlighted the most notable differences that you should be aware of.
Universal Analytics vs Google Analytics 4 – What’s new?
The move away from cookies, towards User ID attribution and modelling
The primary reason for the introduction of GA4 is the shift away from cookie based tracking, towards a more privacy centric future – a sentiment that should resonate with ecommerce stores who are already future-proofing themselves from the ‘cookiepocolypse’.
Aside from the privacy discussion, the cookie-based system, although commonly adopted, has its flaws. A big one being that the cookie system is not by any means a catch all solution. Not everyone accepts cookies, and even when they do,tracking customer journeys across devices is patchy at best.