--- title: "Tracking User Behavior in GA4 via GTM - Capturing E-commerce Events - Part 1" description: "How to use Google Tag Manager to forward custom e-commerce events (checkout, payment selection, etc.) into GA4 for user behavior tracking." canonical_url: "https://blog.markkulab.net/en/post/ga4-collection-user-behavior" author: "Mark Ku" author_url: "https://blog.markkulab.net/en/author/mark-ku" site: "Mark Ku's Tech Notes" date_published: "2022-08-29 01:01:01 +0800" category: "Google Analytics" tags: ["ga4", "google analytics", "gtm", "ecommerce", "event tracking", "tag manager", "analytics"] language: "en" license: "CC BY 4.0" license_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" attribution: "when reusing or quoting, credit the author and link back to the original" --- # Tracking User Behavior in GA4 via GTM - Capturing E-commerce Events - Part 1 ## Goal As a web developer or operator, we usually want to understand how members behave on the site, and we want that event data integrated into Google Analytics so we can study user behavior and use it to improve the site. For example: did the user log in, check out, which payment method did they choose, did they complete the order, and so on. ## How It Works When the member-facing site triggers a specific action, the frontend uses the Google Tag Manager API to fire a pre-configured event, which is then forwarded to the designated Google Analytics property. ## Prerequisites * Create a Google Analytics account and configure your domain * Add the Google Analytics code to your site * Add the GTM code to your site ## Steps ### First, log in to GA: Admin > Data Streams > select your data stream > copy the Measurement ID ![GA4 admin panel displaying Measurement ID for a data stream](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/ga4-collection-user-behavior/images/QwADcFW.png) ### [Log in to GTM](https://tagmanager.google.com/#/home) > Create Account ![Google Tag Manager create account form with web container selected](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/ga4-collection-user-behavior/images/Q6NAP6r.png) ## Next, we link the GA account with GTM and name it "GA4 Integration": Tags > New > Google Analytics: GA4 Configuration > paste the Measurement ID copied from GA earlier > All Pages > Save ![Google Tag Manager GA4 configuration with Measurement ID and All Pages trigger](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/ga4-collection-user-behavior/images/rNSMGh8.png) ## On your frontend site, push events to GTM with frontend code, and GTM forwards bound events to GA. ``` export const checkoutViewEvent = (params: GTMProducts[]) => { if (window.dataLayer) { window.dataLayer.push({ ecommerce: null }); window.dataLayer.push({ event: 'checkout', ecommerce: { checkout: { actionField: { step: 1, }, products: params, }, }, }); } }; ``` ## Create a custom event > Triggers > New > select Custom Event > set the event name to the one pushed from the frontend > Save ![Google Tag Manager custom event trigger for checkout event](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/ga4-collection-user-behavior/images/vWUYcSp.png) ## Link the newly created custom event to the earlier "GA4 Integration" Tags > New > Google Analytics: GA4 Event > select "GA4 Integration" > Event Name checkout > Trigger checkout > Save ![Google Tag Manager GA4 purchase event tag configuration](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/ga4-collection-user-behavior/images/oy9K8oi.png) ## Use the Preview feature to debug and confirm GTM is receiving the events and forwarding them to GA ![GTM Tag Assistant showing GA4 checkout event tag successfully fired](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/ga4-collection-user-behavior/images/ICyNMb4.png) ## Finally, submit ![Google Tag Manager workspace overview with highlighted submit button](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/ga4-collection-user-behavior/images/dbWjmxo.png) ## Because event tracking, custom dimensions, and custom metrics take 24-48 hours to update, after waiting, log in to GA: Reports > Engagement > Events, and you'll see the custom events from the frontend code ![GA4 report displaying event counts for checkout, search, and purchase](https://blog.markkulab.net/content/markku/posts/ga4-collection-user-behavior/images/FqIhUQN.png) ## References ### [Google Analytics 4 Event Tracking Guide (2022)](https://www.haranhuang.com/google-analytics-4-event-tracking.html?fbclid=IwAR2R-WTqazL3LCTwAN0R-wmRquXLWFk5pBVqONEkfeRQSi17UHM9z9XRwKE) ### [GTM Installing Google Analytics 4 Web Data Stream Tutorial](https://datasupplied.com/google-tag-manager/setup-ga4-web-stream/?fbclid=IwAR2DW0NRSN9K3wMh6-egb7XjarUQpruZAmKQYeMuCzVw0zVncRy819cU1pA) ### [New GA4 E-commerce Events: Differences from the Old Version and Purchase Conversion Explained](https://www.bnext.com.tw/article/63984/new-version-of-ga4-e-commerce-events?fbclid=IwAR3EKq9sAYTcoo-xT96MejTLMYAgh45iAmAkOt92GiCFEdjA6VshVac-WJA) ### [GA Event Tracking in GTM - Pass-Through Data Layer](https://mixedanalytics.com/blog/ga-gtm-event-tracking-pass-through-datalayer/) --- ## About this article and its author Originally published on [Mark Ku's Tech Notes](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/post/ga4-collection-user-behavior) License: [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — when reusing or quoting, credit the author and link back to the original ### About the author **[Mark Ku](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/author/mark-ku)** — Software Solution Provider - 10+ years senior software engineer, now an AI Builder - Focused on large-platform architecture — North-American e-commerce, AI SaaS subscription billing - Combining AI Agents and automation to build evolvable product foundations ### Free tools built by the author All of these are free to use: - [Free PDF Sign Tool](https://blog.markkulab.net/en/tools/pdf-sign): Online PDF sign tool — draw, type, or upload a signature, then drag, resize, and download. 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