Google Analytics Audit Test #

16

(not set) Item at 'add_shipping_info'

Why It Matters:

Critical to understanding friction in the checkout process on a product-by-product level.

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 add_shipping_info events are firing without complete item metadata, such as missing item_id or item_name, which may show as (not set) in reports.

This signals that users are reaching the shipping step of checkout, but GA4 doesn’t know which products are being purchased—causing:

  • Incomplete funnel visibility
  • Broken product-level attribution
  • Loss of insight into cart-to-shipping drop-offs
  • Impaired ability to analyze product performance across checkout

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How to Conduct This Test

Basic Tests

  • In GA4 > Explore, build a Free-form report:
    • Dimensions: Item name, Item ID, Event name
    • Filter for event_name = add_shipping_info
    • Look for (not set) in item-related dimensions
  • In Reports > Monetization > Checkout Behavior, scan for products or steps showing "(not set)" as the item name

Advanced QA

  • In BigQuery, run the below query:
    SELECT ep.key, ep.value.string_value, COUNT(*) AS event_count
    FROM `your_dataset.events_*`,
         UNNEST(event_params) AS ep
    WHERE event_name = 'add_shipping_info'
      AND (ep.key = 'item_name' OR ep.key = 'item_id')
      AND (ep.value.string_value IS NULL OR ep.value.string_value = '(not set)')
    GROUP BY ep.key, ep.value.string_value;
  • Seeing a high count of (not set) items during shipping steps? That means you’re losing key product data at a critical moment.

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How To Fix

Fixing 'add_shipping_info' events with (not set) items

  • Use the recommended push to the dataLayer, ensuring the items array is complete:
    gtag('event', 'add_shipping_info', {
      currency: 'USD',
      value: 89.99,
      payment_type: 'credit_card',
      items: [
        {
          item_id: 'SKU_45678',
          item_name: 'Bluetooth Speaker',
          quantity: 1
        }
      ]
    });
  • In Google Tag Manager, make sure:
    • The data layer carries over all necessary product metadata to the shipping step
    • Your add_shipping_info tag maps to the items array and doesn’t rely on unavailable page-level variables

QA Tips

  • Validate in DebugView:
    • Check that add_shiping_info events include all product details
    • Hire a pro to patch gaps in your ecommerce funnel tracking and unlock full visibility into what drives conversions.

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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