Google launches new report that flags checkout issues on e-commerce sites

Google has launched a new report to help brands identify checkout problems.

The Checkout Journey report displays the count and percentage of users who initiated checkout on your e-commerce site or app and successfully and then completed each subsequent step in the checkout process.

This report uses a closed funnel approach, focusing solely on users who started at the initial step (Begin checkout) but didn’t begin at another step in the funnel.

Why we care. This report is a valuable tool for pinpointing bottlenecks in the checkout process, helping brands to resolve these issues promptly, leading to an improved user experience for shoppers and potentially more sales.

Accessing data. To view data in the Checkout Journey report, it’s necessary to integrate ecommerce events (website instructions or mobile app instructions) into your store. These events include:

• begin_checkout: This populates the Begin checkout step.
• add_shipping_info: This populates the Add shipping step.
• add_payment_info: This populates the Add payment step.
• purchase: This populates the Purchase step.

Dimensions. You have the option to select from the following dimensions (which are all populated automatically) to refresh and update the dimension values within the table:

• Browser: The browser from which user activity originated.
• City: The city from which user activity originates.
• Country: The country from which user activity originated.
• Device category: The type of device from which user activity originated.
• Language: The name of the language of a user’s browser or device.
• Region: The geographic region from which user activity originated. 

How to view the report. To access Google’s Checkout Journey report, follow these simple steps:

1. Sign into your Google Analytics account.
2.  Go to the menu on the left and select “Reports”.
3. You should then be able to open the Checkout Journey report on the left in the Monetization topic of the Life cycle collection or the Drive online sales topic of the Business objectives collection.

If you still cannot see the report on your account, it may have been removed or it may not be included in your default set of reports.

How to add the report. You will need to be an administrator or editor of the Google Analytics property to add the report. To add the report, follow the steps below:

1. In Google Analytics, click “Reports” on the lefthand side of your screen.
2. In the left navigation, click on “Library” on the bottom left. If you don’t see the option, you don’t have permission to customize the left navigation.
3. In the “Collections” section, click “Edict Collection” where you want to add the report.
4. Search for the report under “Drag report to create collection”.
5. Drag and drop the report in the report collection on the left.
6. Click “Save”.

What has Google said? A Google spokesperson said in a statement:

• “Get a clear picture of the number and percentage of users who begin to checkout on your ecommerce site or app and complete each of the subsequent steps in the funnel. Identify bottlenecks quickly and fix them.”
• “The report can help you identify bottlenecks in the checkout process. For example, if you notice a large drop off between the Add shipping and Add payment steps, then you might look for issues during the shipping step, such as high shipping costs or requiring users to login without an option to checkout as a guest.”

Deep dive. Read Google’s Checkout Journey Report in full for more information.