Google Analytics Audit Test #

126

More 'payment_info' than 'shipping_info'

Why It Matters:

Critical to understanding checkout behavior.

Industries:

Ecommerce

Checks For:

Accuracy

How accurate is your recent data?

Insight Category:

Behavior

Can you tell what visitors are doing?

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Background

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 your Google Analytics property is showing more add_payment_info events than add_shipping_info events, which can indicate a break in the checkout event sequence or incorrect tracking configuration. In a standard ecommerce flow:

  • Users begin checkout (begin_checkout)
  • Then add shipping details (add_shipping_info)
  • Then add payment info (add_payment_info)
  • Finally, complete the transaction (purchase)

If add_payment_info counts exceed add_shipping_info, potential issues include:

  • Missing or broken add_shipping_info triggers
  • add_payment_info firing too early or repeatedly
  • One-step checkouts where shipping and payment are handled on the same screen but only one event is tracked
  • Server-side events being misfired or duplicated

This kind of tracking inconsistency distorts funnel analysis, making it difficult to optimize or detect true user drop-off.

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Google Analytics audit test results.

How to Conduct This Test

Basic Tests

  • In Google Analytics > Explore, create a Free-form or funnel exploration:
    • Metrics: Event count
    • Dimensions: Event name
    • Filter to only include: add_shipping_info, add_payment_info

Advanced QA

  • In BigQuery, run this query:
    SELECT event_name, COUNT(*) AS event_count
    FROM `your_dataset.events_*`
    WHERE event_name IN ('add_shipping_info', 'add_payment_info')
    GROUP BY event_name
  • If add_payment_info counts are consistently higher than add_shipping_info, it’s a red flag.

Automated, Free Audit

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Or hire a pro to trace and repair your ecommerce event logic.

How To Fix

  • Review the checkout flow on your site:
    • Is shipping info collected and submitted before payment details?
    • Is there a trigger for add_shipping_info on the shipping screen load or continue button?
  • In Google Tag Manager, check that:
    • add_shipping_info is not missing or restricted by conditions that prevent it from firing
    • add_payment_info fires only after shipping is completed
  • If using a one-step checkout, you may need to trigger both events based on the presence of relevant form fields or interaction points
  • Use Google Analytics DebugView to walk through a checkout session and verify the sequence and presence of all funnel events
  • Hire a pro to align your funnel event tracking for reliable conversion analysis and smoother optimization decisions.

Tips from a Google Analytics Consultant

Focus on Insights

Every Google Analytics audit should result in a plan for more insights.

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An insight is:

  • something you don't know
  • and can act on to improve performance

The Goal

Identify and remove insight blockers. Don't get tempted to track things you can't act on!

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