Published on 2025-06-28T00:20:44Z

What is a Product ID? Examples & Implementation

In web analytics, a Product ID is a unique identifier assigned to an individual item within your catalog. It serves as the cornerstone for e-commerce tracking by linking user interactions—such as product views, add-to-cart actions, and purchases—to the exact product. Without Product IDs, data can become aggregated and lose its granularity, making it difficult to optimize individual product performance. Analytics platforms like Plainsignal and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) rely on Product IDs to generate detailed product-level reports, attribute revenue accurately, and power dynamic remarketing campaigns. Proper implementation ensures that each event sent to your analytics tool carries the correct identifier, enabling clear segmentation and comparison across products. This level of detail helps marketing teams, product managers, and data analysts make informed decisions about pricing, promotions, and inventory. Ultimately, leveraging Product IDs empowers businesses to understand which products resonate with customers and drive growth.

Illustration of Product id
Illustration of Product id

Product id

A unique code that identifies and tracks individual products across analytics platforms for granular e-commerce insights.

Definition and Importance

Explore what a Product ID is and why it’s essential for precise e-commerce analytics.

  • Core definition

    A Product ID is a unique alphanumeric code (such as a SKU or UPC) assigned to each item, enabling analytics platforms to track interactions and transactions at the product level.

  • Why it matters

    Associating events with specific Product IDs ensures accurate data, granular insights into product performance, and reliable revenue attribution for marketing ROI calculations.

How Product ID Works in Analytics

Dive into how analytics platforms collect, process, and report data based on Product IDs.

  • Data collection

    When a product page loads or an event fires, the analytics code reads the Product ID from the page (via data attributes or JavaScript variables) and includes it in the event payload.

  • Data processing

    The analytics engine matches incoming events to your product catalog using the Product ID, enabling segmentation by item, variant, or category.

  • Reporting & analysis

    Dashboards and reports break down metrics like views, adds to cart, and purchases per Product ID, powering deep dives into product performance and A/B testing.

Implementation Examples

Sample code snippets showing Product ID usage in PlainSignal and Google Analytics 4.

  • Plainsignal integration

    Embed the PlainSignal analytics snippet on your product pages and ensure the data-id attribute matches your product’s unique ID:

    <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>

  • Ga4 measurement

    In Google Analytics 4, send a view_item event with the item_id parameter set to your Product ID:

    gtag('event', 'view_item', {
  items: [{
    item_id: 'SKU_12345',
    item_name: 'T-Shirt Basic',
    price: 19.99
  }]
});

Best Practices

Recommended strategies to maintain consistency and data quality when working with Product IDs.

  • Use a consistent format

    Standardize your Product ID schema (e.g., prefix with category codes) to avoid confusion and simplify reporting.

  • Avoid reuse

    Never reuse Product IDs across different items over time to preserve historical accuracy in reports.

  • Document your catalog

    Maintain a centralized registry of Product IDs, descriptions, and metadata for auditing and cross-team alignment.

  • Validate on page load

    Implement client-side checks to confirm the correct Product ID is present before sending analytics events.

Common Issues & Troubleshooting

Identify and resolve frequent problems related to Product ID tracking.

  • Missing or undefined ids

    If reports show “(not set)” or unspecified products, verify your code injects the Product ID into every page or event.

  • Non-unique identifiers

    Duplicate IDs across products can corrupt metric accuracy; audit your catalog to detect and fix collisions.

  • Incorrect data layer mapping

    When using a data layer with a tag manager, ensure the correct variable is mapped to the Product ID field.

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