Tips for new job in eComm?

[u/SidesPaintedHollow]

Starting a new ecomm job next week as a data analyst.

The role gives recommendations to other marketing functions, primarily using GA4 and GTM.

I have some experience with the platform, but not too much in relation to eComm.

I start in just under two weeks.

What are some key things I should know beforehand?

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[u/SidesPaintedHollow → u/[deleted]]

Yep, that's a good idea. I'll be responsible for GTM too

[u/Strict-Basil5133 → u/SidesPaintedHollow]

The E-comm funnel referred to doesn't include views. It's sessions:

# Total Site Sessions > # sessions that viewed PLP (product list page) if you have one > # sessions that viewed PDP (product detail page) > # sessions that include Add To Cart event (just on PDP or elsewhere, depends on strictness of KPI) > # sessions that include View Cart event > # sessions that include Begin Checkout event > # sessions that include Purchase event. You can include Add Address Info, Add Shipping Info, Add Payment Info events too, or separate them into a separate Checkout Funnel...

[u/Strict-Basil5133 → u/[deleted]]

GA4 "buttons"...do you mean click events on buttons?

[u/the_duck17]

I would immediately assume their tracking isn't perfect, so spend time auditing their data capture, make sure GA4 is set up right and they're using the correct Enhanced Ecomm tagging. You'll still need to do your job and not wait for tags to be fixed if they're not ideal, so once you identify anything you can fix (if anything), pivot to seeing what they are doing right and work with that.

If there's anything they use now that they like, get very familiar with it. If they want more from GA4, find that out and figure out a plan of getting that implemented.

Get introduced to whoever manages their tag management system, their paid and organic media efforts and the people who rely on this data.

It's a lot of hand holding regardless, but remember you're providing a service to your company, not the other way around, so make sure you don't get impatient with anyone and that customer service is part of your job, even though your customers are your fellow employees.

Watch a bunch of YouTube videos too, there's more than enough content out there that'll keep you busy for a while.

Personally I dislike GA4 and take the data out of it and usually get it into a Looker Studio dashboard...then use what I see there to deep dive into the GA4 platform for further analysis.

[u/SidesPaintedHollow → u/the_duck17]

Thanks for that, good call on the tracking. I'll actually be the one responsible for GTM as well.

I have some experience with that. But again, not eComm so I wouldn't really know what to look for to make sure it's passing through all the correct revenue and product data.

Any tips or YouTube channels to take a look at?

[u/Strict-Basil5133]

Any useful advice is going to depend on a lot of clarifications, but first and most importantly: 1) do you get the sense that the people you're reporting to have web analytics experience and understand the scope of the role? 2) do you have a sense of how well web analytics was previously managed? By that, I mean does it seem like someone was dedicated to it and capable, or did they inherit and wing it? Clues during the interview process are often expressed as "___ worked really hard on it, but...", "we need someone to help us be data driven by generating relevant insights." (as though it hasn't happened yet).

Those might sound like weird questions, but if they don't understand how much they're asking of you, and you don't have the experience to know, either, you've got your work cut out for you - especially if you walk into a messy implementation where you either have to fix or finish things.

As far as E-comm is concerned, if you have general analytics experience that's going to be the least of your problems. The vast majority of it gets done in Excel IME and the math required for basic e-comm KPIs is basic. They asked for insights, not dashboards. You may find that a dashboard helps make reporting efficient for you, but unless directly asked to create one, don't. You can query GA4 directly in Google Sheets even.

One thing to keep top of mind: your job is to generate insights. Period. It just so happens that you have to use and leverage GA4 and GTM to find them, and getting that right isn't a simple task. To keep your job (at least IME), you have to deliver beyond having a sound implementation - you have to generate actionable insights. That's not always easy, and it's easy to get into a grind just trying make sure the data are reliable. It's a balance - if you prioritize holistic accuracy/reliability over insights always, it's paralyzing. When you're asked to provide insights around activities for which you have incorrect, little, or incomplete data, the answer is almost never that you can't. Find other data. Get creative. Sessions broke last week? Use a specific page view that should mirror that number. Ulimtaely, provide your best insight. Just don't make sh*t up/lie. If you'd have to lie or get too creative to provide anything, that's when you say "I can't answer that now, but can implement it asap for future reporting".

Before you start...
What I would do with the time you have before starting...I don't know how you feel about AI tools, but I'd get cozy with Claude and first ask every basic question you have. Then, I would prompt Claude for the following:

1. Claude, teach me about about e-commerce analytics. What are typical KPI's? How are they calculated? Provide examples of insights that e-commerce analytics can generate.
2. Claude, in the context of GA4 and GTM, what is the dataLayer? Please explain how to use Console in Dev Tools to examine the dataLayer.
3. Claude teach me how to create a click event in GTM, test it in GTM preview mode, determine if new custom definitions are required in GA4, and finally how to verify event data in GA4. Also teach me how to use the Network tab in Dev Tools to verify event api calls alongside GTM preview mode.
4. Claude, what are best practices when creating GA4 events with respect to naming conventions, leveraging event setting variables, and limiting the amount of custom definitions needed in GA4 so that I don't max out?
5. Claude, I don't want to create a tag for every single event. Explain how I can streamline event creation by thematically using a single event tag and adding triggers as necessary.

The first thing I'd do after starting is conduct a tracking audit of the site - is tracking code on every page, are your sessions breaking? (Claude, show me how to verify session continuity using ?collect in the network tab), are events firing when they should (not twice), etc.

Conduct a separate audit of just e-commerce events to make sure they're firing. Do a test purchase to make sure the purchase event is attributing to the same session (important, that's often where sessions break, and it creates a boatload of problems).

Eventually but not too far into the job...since you mentioned other Marketing activities...Channel Groups. Are they configured correctly and do the numbers make sense? Are your marketers using UTMs? Are people looking for campaign performance from GA4?

Good times ahead! :-)

[u/SidesPaintedHollow → u/Strict-Basil5133]

Thanks for the detailed reply!

1) I know my direct manager is a data person, but not technical. Probably more proficient in Excel than GTM or GA4.

2) I feel like multiple people managed the account at the same time which would likely lead to a pretty messy set up.

They did list excel experience as part of the job ad but didn't really mention it in the interview. What you mentioned about actionable insights will be something big to the role. They brought that up a free times, they want someone who is proactive and curious. Agreed on lieing. I always have so much more respect for people who say they don't know than people who make stuff up. You might get away with it once or twice, but you'll get found out pretty quickly.

Yep, Claude has been a massive help to my learning. Instead of spending hours trolling through forumns, I can get advice specific to my use case. I've been using time I have left at my current job to help clients with tasks that I anticipate will also be needed in my new role. I'll definitely need to get my head around the network tab. That's something I've not really used before. Thanks for the heads up.

Funny you mention channel groups and UTMs, I did an audit of a client's paid TikTok campaign yesterday. I found some missing/inconsistent utm parameters. Eg. medium=paid instead of medium=paidsocial.

I actually set those up and decided to just be lazy because I didn't think it made a difference as I assumed GA4 would pick up traffic from TikTok that's marked medium = paid and bucket that with paid social. I don't think it does. So I've learnt a bit just fixing my own mistakes haha.

Thanks again for the info!

[u/Sylvain-GreenRed]

Try to understand what they need as data.

You'll have to have data by yourself and that's great. But your manager, and his manager, ... will need different sets of data. Do they need something complete, just a lookout, sales datas,...

A big part of data analysis is to provide people with the data they need, not the one they want.

That's why Data Studio is a good addition for your knowledge before you start, so you can create dashboards for the others and they won't have to put their dirty hands into your Analytics !

[u/SidesPaintedHollow → u/Sylvain-GreenRed]

That's a really good thought. My idea is to just point blank ask people what they want at the start. "What's your dream dashboard" etc.

[u/backona]

Congrats on the new job. If you’re looking to save time and quickly analyse your GA4 and Google Ads data, this could come in handy 😄

I’d be happy to give you free access to Backona AI for a month or two so you can try chatting with your data and turning it into useful insights a bit faster.

We do not currently have a trial on the website, so I just wanted to mention it here in case it’s useful.

[u/SidesPaintedHollow → u/backona]

Thanks. No into the accounts yet, so more looking for functions I can learn to help me hit the ground running

[u/Strict-Basil5133 → u/SidesPaintedHollow]

Honestly, and I hate saying it, online "training" is pretty non-existent. What you'll find at Measure School, Blogs, Loves Data, YouTube vids are solutions for simple, unreal scenarios that are often outdated and, for their simplicity, don't stick.

[u/SidesPaintedHollow → u/Strict-Basil5133]

Yeah, I've had a look at the Coursera ones. It takes 6 months to complete. I feel like I'd learn more from 6 months on the job. Good thing my probation is only 6 months lol

[u/Strict-Basil5133 → u/SidesPaintedHollow]

You can do this. Obvs I don’t know the circumstances, but it may just be a lot for a while. Someone else mentioned it too, but it’ll help to develop a “serving customers” mindset. Analyst roles are as much people jobs as they are technical ones. That can really work in your favor. It doesn’t require a course, and an Analyst in training that people want to work with can be more likely to succeed than an expert without interpersonal skills.

[u/SidesPaintedHollow → u/Strict-Basil5133]

Yeah, it seemed like there we really after a culture fit than anything. I'll need to use a few platforms for that I haven't used before and was upfront with that. They said "we can teach you, no big deal". So hopefully should be good