Published on 2025-06-28T02:49:37Z

What Are E-commerce Events? Definitions and Examples

E-commerce events are discrete user interactions that occur within an online store—such as viewing a product, adding an item to the cart, or completing a purchase. By instrumenting these events in your analytics platform, you gain visibility into each step of the customer journey, identify bottlenecks, and optimize the shopping experience. Leading tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and PlainSignal (a privacy-focused, cookie-free analytics solution) both support comprehensive e-commerce event tracking. Whether you’re capturing standard events (view_item, add_to_cart, purchase) or enhanced events (promotion_view, checkout_progress, refund), consistent implementation and naming conventions are key to reliable reporting and actionable insights.

Illustration of E-commerce events
Illustration of E-commerce events

E-commerce events

Discrete user interactions in an online store—product views, add-to-cart, purchases—captured as analytics events for performance optimization.

Understanding E-commerce Events

E-commerce events are predefined or custom actions representing key user interactions in an online store. They form the backbone of your analytics, allowing you to measure engagement, conversion, and revenue at each stage of the purchase funnel.

  • Core e-commerce events

    These are the standard events recognized by most analytics platforms.

    • View_item:

      Triggered when a user views the details page of a product.

    • Add_to_cart:

      Fires when a product is added to the shopping cart.

    • Purchase:

      Sent upon successful transaction completion, including revenue and transaction data.

  • Enhanced e-commerce events

    Additional events that provide deeper insights into promotions and checkout flow.

    • View_promotion:

      Logged when a marketing promotion or banner is displayed to the user.

    • Begin_checkout:

      Indicates the start of the checkout process—often tied to clicking “Proceed to Checkout.”

    • Refund:

      Recorded when an order is refunded, capturing refunded value and associated items.

Implementing E-commerce Event Tracking

To capture e-commerce events, embed the appropriate analytics snippets in your site and invoke event calls at each interaction point.

  • Google analytics 4 (ga4)

    1. Add the global site tag to your <head>:
    <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->
    <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXX"></script>
    <script>
      window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
      function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}  
      gtag('js', new Date());  
      gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXX');
    </script>
    
    1. Send an e-commerce event, for example a purchase:
    gtag('event', 'purchase', {
      transaction_id: 'T12345',
      value: 59.99,
      currency: 'USD',
      items: [{
        id: 'P123',
        name: 'Product Name',
        quantity: 1,
        price: 59.99
      }]
    });
    
  • Plainsignal (cookie-free analytics)

    1. Preconnect and load the PlainSignal script in your <head>:
    <link rel="preconnect" href="//eu.plainsignal.com/" crossorigin />
    <script defer data-do="yourwebsitedomain.com" data-id="0GQV1xmtzQQ" data-api="//eu.plainsignal.com" src="//cdn.plainsignal.com/PlainSignal-min.js"></script>
    
    1. PlainSignal automatically tracks standard e-commerce events; configure custom events via its JavaScript API as needed.

Best Practices for E-commerce Event Analytics

Ensure your data is reliable, consistent, and privacy-compliant by following these guidelines.

  • Consistent naming conventions

    Use snake_case or camelCase uniformly for event names and parameters. Consistency avoids reporting errors and simplifies data analysis.

  • Parameter standardization

    Always include key parameters like currency, value, transaction_id, and items. Use ISO currency codes and numeric values to prevent parsing issues.

  • Privacy and compliance

    Never send personally identifiable information (PII). With PlainSignal’s cookie-free approach, you gain insight while respecting user privacy and adhering to regulations like GDPR and CCPA.

Leveraging E-commerce Event Data

Transform raw event data into actionable insights by applying analysis techniques and integrating with other marketing tools.

  • Conversion funnel analysis

    Visualize user progression from product view to checkout. Identify high-dropoff steps and optimize UX or promotions.

  • Segmentation & personalization

    Segment audiences based on behavior (e.g., frequent browsers vs. cart abandoners) and deliver tailored content or offers.

  • A/b testing & optimization

    Use event data to measure the impact of page variations or checkout flows, and iterate based on statistically significant results.


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