Google Analytics Audit Test #

A GA4 audit is essential for uncovering missing insights—key data points that organizations don't yet know and can act upon. A well-done audit evaluates both behavioral tracking and traffic attribution, ensuring each is accurate and useful. It also assesses whether the data collected truly supports business decisions and reporting.

Test Detail

This test checks whether add_to_cart events are properly tracked in GA4. This event is crucial for ecommerce businesses to understand product interest, conversion funnel performance, and customer behavior leading up to purchases.

If the event is missing or misconfigured, you lose visibility into:

• Cart engagement
• Funnel drop-off between product view and checkout
• Product-level interest and merchandising performance

Missing or misconfigured add_to_cart tracking makes it hard to evaluate friction in the shopping flow, and will severely limit the capability to engage in meaningful conversion rate optimization activities.

Implementing 'add_to_cart'

• Use the recommended push to the dataLayer:

    gtag('event', 'add_to_cart', {
      currency: 'USD',
      value: 129.99,
      items: [{
        item_id: 'SKU_12345',
        item_name: 'T-Shirt',
        quantity: 1
      }]
    });

• In Google Tag Manager, configure an event to trigger:
  • When a user adds an item to their cart
    • Make sure to configure this for every location a user can add an item to their cart (e.g., product pages, from the cart)
  • Ensure that the items array is included and matches what was passed in prior steps like view_item
  • Make sure to include additional information that didn't necessarily exist at the view_item step (such as variant)
  • Validate that the event only fires once per user action—avoid firing on page load or scroll

QA Tips

• Test across device types and product templates to ensure consistent implementation
• Hire a pro to implement, QA, and optimize your ecommerce tracking so you can trust your funnel data from cart to conversion.