The difference between GA4 and Shopify sessions

As an online marketer, you'll no doubt encounter clients or employers asking questions about visitor numbers, sessions, and users on their webshop. Perhaps you've run into a problem: the figures in Shopify The comments do not match the figures in Google Analytics 4. Since Shopify owners primarily look only at Shopify Analytics, your reports or dashboards may appear erroneous, although this is not necessarily the case. In this article, we will delve into the differences between the two systems and explain what this means for your analyses.

Sessies en gebruikers zijn vaak termen die worden gebruikt in de context van websites en webapplicaties. * **Gebruiker:** Een gebruiker is een persoon die de website of applicatie gebruikt. Dit kan een geregistreerde gebruiker zijn (die een account heeft aangemaakt) of een anonieme gebruiker (die de site bezoekt zonder in te loggen). * **Sessie:** Een sessie is een periode waarin een gebruiker actief is op een website of applicatie. Het begint meestal wanneer een gebruiker de site bezoekt en eindigt wanneer de gebruiker de site verlaat, na een bepaalde periode van inactiviteit, of wanneer de gebruiker zich afmeldt. Tijdens een sessie kan de website informatie over het gedrag van de gebruiker bijhouden, zoals welke pagina's ze bezoeken, welke items ze aan hun winkelwagentje toevoegen, of hun voorkeuren instellen. Dit wordt vaak gedaan met behulp van cookies of door sessie-ID's.

Let's start with the basics. Both Shopify and GA4 measure visitor behaviour using the terms “sessions” and “users”:

• A sessionAn interaction period of a visitor with a website. If someone visits your webshop and clicks through multiple pages, that counts as one session. Shopify closes a session after 30 minutes of inactivity; GA4 does the same.
• A userA unique individual visiting your website. This is determined via cookies or other identification methods. The number of users may be lower than the number of sessions because a user can have multiple sessions.

Why is this data important? Sessions give an insight into how often your site is used, while users provide insight into how many unique people you are reaching.

Why do the figures differ between Shopify and GA4?

This is where the complexity lies. Although Shopify and GA4 use the same terminology, they employ different methodologies for data collection and measurement.

Tracking technology

Shopify uses its own servers to measure sessions and users. This means that data is collected on Shopify's servers, independently of the user's browser or ad blockers. This often allows Shopify to report more sessions.

GA4, on the other hand, uses client-side tracking via JavaScript tags in the browser by default. If a user uses an ad blocker or disables JavaScript, GA4 cannot track this visitor. This explains why GA4 often shows fewer sessions and users.

2. Terminating and starting up a session

Both systems use similar rules for sessions. Both Shopify and GA4 end a session after 30 minutes of inactivity. In both cases, a session remains active if a user returns within these 30 minutes. A new session starts in both systems when:

• 30 minutes of inactivity have elapsed
• a user comes in via a new campaign source

The main difference is that GA4 also automatically starts a new session at midnight, while Shopify does not adhere to this rule.

3. Traffic allocation

Shopify categorises all traffic coming through a shared link, such as via email, as direct traffic by default. GA4 uses more complex models to distinguish traffic by source, such as organic, paid, or direct. This can lead to different numbers of sessions and users per traffic channel.

4. Data processing and filters

GA4 offers extensive capabilities for filtering data, such as excluding internal traffic or spam. Shopify does not have these capabilities, meaning the data is less refined “out of the box”. As a result, session and user numbers in Shopify can be higher than in GA4.

5. Processing of consent

Another common problem is that the Shopify Privacy API This means Shopify cannot correctly process a visitor's consent. A user who accepts cookies in the cookie banner and navigates to the next page might be seen as a completely new user and session on that second page if Shopify's Privacy API is not called (correctly).

How do you deal with this?

The difference in figures can be confusing, especially when you are asking clients or your principal to interpret this data. Here are some tips:

1. Explain the differences between both platforms. State that both systems offer valuable insights, but differ in how data is collected and displayed. Shopify is better at tracking all sessions, while GA4 offers deeper analysis thanks to segmentation and traffic sources.
2. Choose a primary source for analysis. Determine which tool you will use for specific reporting. For revenue and transaction data, you can use Shopify. For marketing campaigns and traffic analysis, GA4 is often the better choice.
3. Use both tools together. By combining both Shopify and GA4, you get a complete picture of your visitors' behaviour. Shopify can help in identifying technical issues, while GA4 offers detailed marketing insights.

Conclusion

Would you like to provide your GA4 server-side with data in the same way as your Shopify Analytics? Consider then to server-side tagging te implementeren voor uw Shopify webshop. This reduces data loss from ad blockers and gives you a fuller picture of your visitors. Via AdPage you can Server-Side Tagging implementation including dataLayer and Webhooks to set up so you can measure your conversions 1-to-1 in your analytical and marketing platforms.