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GROWTH DEPT.CRO

Google Analytics 4 + Growth Dept CRO

Every test group a visitor is in reaches GA4 as an experience_impression event, through Google Tag Manager or straight through the store's Google tag.

  • experience_impression with exp_variant_string
  • "CRO - <test> - <group>" in readable names
  • No Google sign-in needed
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The storefront pushes a cro_assignment event to window.dataLayer for every group a visitor is in, with cro_test, cro_variant and exp_variant_string ("CRO - <test name> - <group name>"). Tag Manager sends it to GA4 as experience_impression. A store without Tag Manager can switch on GA4 on the Integrations page, and the storefront calls the store's gtag itself on each page view.

At a glance

Does Growth Dept CRO work with Google Analytics 4?

What is sent?

A dataLayer event named cro_assignment with cro_test (the test id), cro_variant (the group key) and exp_variant_string; with the GA4 switch on, also experience_impression through gtag.

Does it need a connection?

No sign-in. Tag Manager reads the dataLayer event, or the storefront calls the Google tag already on your store.

Can other tools use it?

Yes. Anything you load through Tag Manager can read the same event.

Where are the test results?

In Growth Dept CRO, from Shopify's orders. GA4 is for your own segments and reports.

How it works

How Google Analytics 4 and Growth Dept CRO work together

A visitor enters a test

The runtime decides the group before the page paints.

The event is pushed

cro_assignment goes to window.dataLayer with the test, the group and exp_variant_string.

GA4 receives it

Tag Manager forwards it as experience_impression, or the storefront sends that event through gtag.

Get started

To get started

  1. 01

    Add a variable and a trigger

    In Tag Manager, a Data Layer Variable exp_variant_string and a custom event trigger on cro_assignment.

  2. 02

    Add a GA4 event tag

    Event name experience_impression, with exp_variant_string as a parameter.

  3. 03

    Register the dimension

    In GA4, register exp_variant_string as an event-scoped custom dimension and build a segment per group.

What it works with

Every storefront test typeTheme and snippet installs

FAQ

Google Analytics 4 questions

Why doesn't GA4's conversion count match the test's?
The test counts orders Shopify confirms for each group. GA4 counts what its tag saw in the browser, and drops some of it.
GA4 shows fewer visitors in a group than the test does. Why?
GA4's tag sends late or not at all on some page views. Check that the Google tag loads in the page's head and that window.gtag exists, then compare the test's results, not GA4's, before deciding.

More integrations

ShopifyNext.js and headlessCloudflare WorkersKlaviyoSlackMicrosoft ClarityGrowth Dept MTAGrowth Dept ACRGrowth Dept agentsGrowth Dept CRO API

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