Shopify Guide: Implementing Tracking Scripts and Event Tags for Effective Conversion Tracking

Proper conversion tracking is fundamental to successful traffic acquisition, enabling eCom store owners to understand and leverage customer interactions to improve business outcomes. This article delves into various methods to install tracking scripts in Shopify stores for effective conversion tracking, especially focusing on integration with Tracklution, a robust conversion tracking tool designed to enhance your e-commerce business outcomes from paid advertising.

Updated At 2024-07-02: Information about Shopify's upcoming Checkout Extensibility upgrade

Table of Contents

1. Direct Code Installation & Similar Methods That Require Technical Knowledge
2. Google Tag Manager (GTM) Integration
3. Shopify's New "Customer Events" Feature
4. Shopify Apps (Future Development for Tracklution)
5. Enhancing Data with Shopify Webhooks (or even APIs)
6. TL;DR: Quick Q&A on the topic

1. Direct Code Installation & Similar Methods That Require Technical Knowledge

The most straightforward yet complex method involves embedding the scripts directly into your Shopify store's code. This approach grants you maximum control over the tracking logic and data capture process, allowing for highly customized tracking setups. However, it requires a solid understanding of web development and Shopify's architecture to avoid potential pitfalls that could disrupt your store's functionality. Direct code manipulation is powerful but recommended only for those with the technical expertise to implement changes safely.

For Shopify Plus merchants, the Shopify Script Editor is a powerful tool that lets you create scripts that can modify prices, shipping methods, and payment options dynamically. These scripts are written in Ruby (so yes, requires knowledge of Ruby) and can provide highly customized checkout experiences.

Shopify 2.0 themes also support theme extensions, which allow developers to add app blocks and app embeds directly into theme files through the theme editor, enhancing the store's functionality without deep coding. This offers streamlined integration of apps with theme files, yet it is limited to Shopify 2.0 themes and requires understanding of the new theme architecture.

Shopify's template language, Liquid, allows for dynamic content loading and manipulation within Shopify themes. By using Liquid variables and filters, you can customize the display of products, customer data, and other store elements. This requires learning Liquid syntax and principles.

IMPORTANT: Shopify is rolling out the new Checkout Extensibility upgrades to all merchants in two steps, August 2024 and August 2025. Eventually, this will deprecate the old checkout.liquid for checkout customizations. Thus, any direct code implementations via checkout.liquid will stop functioning as store owners upgrade to Checkout Extensibility. Ensure your tracking is correctly configured before upgrading (or being forced) to Checkout Extensibility to avoid conversion tracking outages. Tracklution supports Shopify's new Checkout Exensiblity with out-of-the-box, no-code Shopify App. With Tracklution, you can replace your old tracking scripts with future-proof conversion tracking app designed for Shopify.

• Advantages: Direct control over the store's appearance and functionality.
• Considerations: Requires technical knowledge; easy to introduce bugs if not careful.
• Bear in mind: Direct modifications in checkout.liquid will not function after August 28, 2025.

2. Google Tag Manager (GTM) Integration

For those seeking a more user-friendly solution without diving deep into code, Google Tag Manager (GTM) offers a versatile alternative. GTM can be integrated into your Shopify store either manually by adding the GTM code snippet directly into your Shopify theme or through a dedicated Shopify App designed for GTM integration. Once set up, GTM allows you to deploy and manage your tracking scripts without altering the site's code directly. This method simplifies the process of adding custom tracking scripts but requires familiarity with GTM's interface and functionality. Ensuring GTM captures the necessary data correctly is crucial for accurate tracking.

IMPORTANT: Shopify's new Checkout Extensibility upgrade may break existing GTM setups. This is due to the fact that in the new checkout model the checkout process is being sandboxed, meaning your GTM installation might lose the sight of what happens inside the checkout process sandbox. Ensure your tracking is correctly configured before upgrading (or being forced) to Checkout Extensibility to avoid conversion tracking outages. For the new Checkout Extensibility, we have developed an out-of-the-box, no-code Shopify App. With Tracklution, you can replace your old tracking scripts with future-proof conversion tracking app tailored for Shopify and eCom tracking.

• Advantages: Simplifies the management of multiple scripts; reduces the need to edit theme files directly.
• Considerations: Requires a basic understanding of GTM and how to set up tags, triggers and data layer correctly.
• Bear in mind: Checkout Extensibility might break previous GTM setups due to checkout process sandboxing, forced to all Shopify merchants by August 28, 2025.

3. Shopify's New "Customer Events" Feature

Shopify has introduced a "Customer Events" feature, aimed at simplifying the process of tracking custom events directly within the platform. With the upcoming Shopify's Checkout Extensibility (rolling out during 2024-2025 and eventually forced to all Shopify stores) it is good to keep in mind that the old checkout.liquid file will be deprecated, the checkout process will be sandboxed, and thus opposes a threat to existing tracking setups. Thus, Customer Events will be the only way to inject tracking pixels inside the sandboxed checkout process via Shopify UI.

When installing Tracklution tracking via Customer Events, we encourage to follow the instructions carefully to ensure data is captured correctly.

• Advantages: Super simple way to install event tags without touching the code
• Considerations: Fairly new functionality that had some child diseases in the early days. Careful installation is needed to ensure correct data capture.

4. Shopify Apps

The Shopify App Store offers a wide range of apps that can add functionality to your store without the need to write code directly. Many apps provide the ability to insert custom scripts for various purposes, such as SEO, marketing, and customer service enhancements.

The latest addition of a dedicated Tracklution App in Shopify App Store is an exciting addition to Shopify store owners in setting up top-notch eCommerce conversion tracking with ease. This app streamlines the process of integrating Tracklution's tracking capabilities into your Shopify store, offering a seamless and user-friendly solution for e-commerce conversion tracking. This method is the preferred approach for Shopify store owners looking to leverage Tracklution's powerful conversion tracking features.

• Advantages: Easy to install and manage; no coding required. Install server-side tracking to any Shopify store with Tracklution in 5 minutes.
• Considerations: Always dependent on third-party developers for support and updates (and overall App quality).

5. Enhancing Data with Shopify Webhooks (or even APIs)

To complement web tracking methods, Shopify's webhook functionality offers another layer of data capture. Webhooks can be configured to send real-time data from your Shopify store to external services upon specific events, such as order creation or customer registration. This data can be easily delivered into your Tracking Container in Tracklution, providing a richer dataset combining web activity with backend e-commerce events. It's an effective way to enhance your data to provide even better and richer data to ad platforms - enabling you to make the most out of your ad budgets.

On top of Webhooks, for even more advanced customizations, Shopify's APIs provide powerful tools to create bespoke solutions. They allow for the integration of external services, automation of workflows, and syncing of Shopify data with other platforms.

• Advantages: Flexible and customizable; enables deeper integrations with external systems.
• Considerations: Setting up webhook requires some knowledge and understanding of the topic. Building APIs requires advanced technical knowledge.

Q&A on Implementing Tracking Scripts and Event Tags in Shopify

Why is proper conversion tracking crucial for Shopify stores?

• Proper conversion tracking allows e-commerce store owners to understand customer interactions, optimize their marketing strategies, and improve business outcomes by making data-driven decisions.

What are some methods for implementing tracking scripts in Shopify?

• Methods include direct code installation, Google Tag Manager integration, using Shopify's "Customer Events" feature, installing Shopify apps, and enhancing data with Shopify webhooks or APIs, each with varying levels of technical complexity.

What are the advantages of using Tracklution for conversion tracking in Shopify?

• Tracklution offers robust conversion tracking tools that can enhance e-commerce business outcomes from paid advertising by providing accurate and comprehensive data for optimization.

How does Google Tag Manager integration simplify conversion tracking in Shopify?

• Google Tag Manager simplifies the management of multiple tracking scripts without editing theme files directly, making it user-friendly for those with basic understanding of GTM and tag setup.

What potential does the Tracklution Shopify App hold for store owners?

• Tracklution Shopify App streamlines the integration of Tracklution’s tracking capabilities, offering a seamless solution for e-commerce conversion tracking without needing coding skills.

How can Shopify webhooks enhance conversion tracking data?

• Webhooks can provide a deeper layer of data by sending real-time information from Shopify to external services upon specific events, offering a more comprehensive view of customer interactions.

Conclusion

Integrating custom event scripts for conversion tracking in Shopify is a multifaceted process that caters to a range of technical skills and preferences. From direct code modifications and GTM integration to the Tracklution Shopify App, there are several pathways to achieve robust analytics. Additionally, leveraging Shopify webhooks can further enrich your tracking data, offering a complete view of customer interactions. By carefully selecting the method that best fits your technical capabilities and business needs, you can unlock valuable data collection and delivery to drive your e-commerce success.