The difference between GA4 and Shopify sessions

Tobias Pennings
December 27, 2024
Overview
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As an online marketer, you probably have to deal with customers or clients who ask questions about visitor numbers, sessions and users on their webshop. You may have run into a problem in doing so: the numbers in Shopify do not match the numbers in Google Analytics 4. Since Shopify owners mainly only look at Shopify Analytics, your reports or dashboards may come across as incorrect when this is not necessarily the case. In this article, we dive into the differences between the two systems and explain what this means for your analytics.

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What are sessions and users?

Let's start with the basics. Both Shopify and GA4 measure visitor behavior with the terms "sessions" and "users."

  • A session: A visitor's interaction period 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 user: A unique individual who visits your Web site. This is determined through cookies or other identification methods. The number of users may be less than the number of sessions because a user may have multiple sessions.

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

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Why do the numbers differ between Shopify and GA4?

Here comes the complexity. Although Shopify and GA4 use the same terms, they have different methodologies for collecting and measuring data.

1. Tracking Technology

Shopify uses their own servers to measure sessions and users. This means that data is collected on Shopify's servers regardless of the user's browser or adblockers. 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 adblocker or disables JavaScript, GA4 cannot track that visitor. This explains why GA4 often shows fewer sessions and users.

A standard GA4 connection can be blocked by AdBlockers, among other things

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2. Definition of a session

Although both systems close a session after 30 minutes of inactivity, the rules for starting a new session differ. In Shopify, a new session starts when a user lands on the site again, even if that user returns within the 30 minutes. GA4, on the other hand, makes a distinction: a new session starts only if the user has another campaign source (for example, a new Google Ads click).

3. Allocation of traffic

Shopify classifies all traffic coming in 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 data filtering capabilities, such as excluding internal traffic or spam. Shopify does not have these capabilities, which means the data "out of the box" is less sophisticated. As a result, sessions and user numbers in Shopify may be higher than in GA4.

5. Consent processing

Another problem that is common is that Shopify' s Privacy API is not called. As a result, Shopify cannot properly process given consent from a visitor. A user who accepts the cookies in the cookie banner and proceeds to the next page can be seen on that second page as a completely new user and session when Shopify's Privacy API is not called (correctly).

Incorrect consent processing allows Shopify to measure duplicate sessions and users

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How do you deal with this?

The difference in numbers can be confusing, especially if you ask clients or your principal to interpret this data. Here are some tips:

  1. Explain the differences between the two 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 analytics thanks to segmentation and traffic sources.
  2. Choose a primary source for analyses. Decide which tool you will use for specific reports. For revenue and transaction data, you can use Shopify. For marketing campaigns and traffic analytics, GA4 is often the better choice.
  3. Use both tools together. Combining both Shopify and GA4 gives you a complete picture of your visitors' behavior. Shopify can help detect technology issues, while GA4 provides detailed marketing insights.

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Conclusion

Like your Shopify Analytics, do you also want to provide your GA4 with server-side data? Then consider implementing server-side tagging for your Shopify webshop. This reduces the loss of data due to adblockers and gives you a more complete picture of your visitors. Through AdPage you can have a Server-Side Tagging implementation including DataLayer and Webhooks set up so you can measure your conversions 1-to-1 in your analytics and marketing platforms.

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