In this post, we are covering the use of Google Analytics (GA) ‘Goals’ to monitor Customer Engagement.  In addition to standard reporting of goals, we can also monitor them using GA’s REAL-TIME view – lots of fun when a big promotion is in progress

Conversions > Goals

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Real-Time > Conversions

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For our purposes, we’ll define Customer Engagement as any non-sale interaction between a visitor and your site.  This can include number of page views, duration of visit, customer registration/sign-in, cart activity,  video plays, newsletter sign-up, review submission, wishlist activity, etc…

Getting Started

To get started with creating a Goal, follow these steps:

1. Go to your Google Analytics standard reports
2. Click on the “Admin” button in the top right
3. Click on “Goals”
4. Click on “Create A Goal”

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ShopSite Examples

Customer Registration
Goal is triggered when a visitor has accessed the ShopSite registration page.  If a visitor aborts the registration process, the goal is still counted.

• Goal Setup
  Use ‘Create an account’ template
• Goal Description
  Name: Customer Registration Page
  Goal Type: Destination
• Goal Details
  Destination: Regular Expression
  Value (copy & paste, then replace ‘yourdomain’): /cgi-yourdomain/sb/registration.cgi\?!@#$%^&*()_-+=[{]};:<>|./?.]*func=1

Customer Sign-In
Goal is triggered when a visitor has accessed the ShopSite sign-in page.  If a visitor aborts the sign-in process, the goal is still counted.

• Goal Setup
  Use ‘Create an account’ template
• Goal Description
  Name: Customer Registration Page
  Goal Type: Destination
• Goal Details
  Destination: Regular Expression
  Value (copy & paste, then replace ‘yourdomain’): /cgi-yourdomain/sb/registration.cgi\?!@#$%^&*()_-+=[{]};:<>|./?.]*func=2

Shopping Cart Accessed
Goal is triggered each time a visitor accesses the ShopSite shopping cart.

• Goal Setup
  Use ‘Place an Order’ (or ‘Buy Merchandise’) template.  If neither is available, choose ‘Custom’ rather than ‘Template’ based goal setup.
  
• Goal Description
  Name: Shopping Cart Page
  Goal Type: Destination
• Goal Details
  Destination: Equals To
  Value (copy & paste, then replace ‘yourdomain’): /cgi-yourdomain/sb/order.cgi

Item(s) Added to the Shopping Cart
Goal is triggered when a visitor adds items to the ShopSite shopping cart.

• Goal Setup
  Use ‘Place an Order’ (or ‘Buy Merchandise’) template.  If neither is available, choose ‘Custom’ rather than ‘Template’ based goal setup.
• Goal Description
  Name: Shopping Cart Page
  Goal Type: Destination
• Goal Details
  Destination: Equals To
  Value (copy & paste, then replace ‘yourdomain’): /cgi-yourdomain/sb/order.cgi?rd=1

Review Submitted
Goal triggers when a visitor initiates a product review.  This example is only applicable for ShopSite’s built-in Customer Review feature.

• Goal Setup
  Use ‘Place an Order’ (or ‘Buy Merchandise’) template.  If neither is available, choose ‘Custom’ rather than ‘Template’ based goal setup.
  
• Goal Description
  Name: Review Submitted
  Goal Type: Destination
• Goal Details
  Destination: Equals To
  Value (copy & paste, then replace ‘yourdomain’): /cgi-yourdomain/sb/reviews.cgi\?!@#$%^&*()_-+=[{]};:<>|./?.]*reviews_mode=2

Wishlist Created (v12 only)
Goal triggers when a visitor creates a new wish list.  This example is only applicable for the ShopSite built-in wishlist feature (v12).  The goal is triggered even if the user aborts the new list (i.e. user does not click save).

• Goal Setup
  Use ‘Place an Order‘ (or ‘Buy Merchandise’) template.  If neither is available, choose ‘Custom’ rather than ‘Template’ based goal setup.
• Goal Description
  Name: Wishlist Created
  Goal Type: Destination
• Goal Details
  Destination: Regular Expression
  Value (copy & paste, then replace ‘yourdomain’): /cgi-yourdomain/sb/wishlist.cgi\?!@#$%^&*()_-+=[{]};:<>|./?.]*func=create

Wishlist Item Added (v12 only)
Goal triggers when a visitor adds an item to their wish list.  This example is only applicable for the ShopSite built-in wishlist feature (v12)

• Goal Setup
  Use ‘Place an Order’ (or ‘Buy Merchandise’) template.  If neither is available, choose ‘Custom’ rather than ‘Template’ based goal setup.
• Goal Description
  Name: Wishlist Item Added
  Goal Type: Destination
• Goal Details
  Destination: Regular Expression
  Value (copy & paste, then replace ‘yourdomain’): /cgi-yourdomain/sb/wishlist.cgi\?!@#$%^&*()_-+=[{]};:<>|./?.]*func=cwl

Checkout Page
Goal triggers when a visitor accesses the ShopSite checkout page.  In most cases, this should be a solid indicator that a conversion is imminent.  If this goal is being triggered and conversions are not following, you’ll want to review checkout processes, payment options, security, etc…  Note: failed attempts to checkout will result in this goal being counted multiple times.

• Goal Setup
  Use ‘Place an Order’ (or ‘Buy Merchandise’) template.  If neither is available, choose ‘Custom’ rather than ‘Template’ based goal setup.
• Goal Description
  Name: Checkout Page
  Goal Type: Destination
• Goal Details
  Destination: Equals To
  Value (copy & paste, then replace ‘yourdomain’): /cgi-yourdomain/sb/billing.cgi

Completed Purchase
Goal triggers when a visitor completes a purchase*.  This goal is in no way meant to replace GA’s built-in ecommerce tracking feature.  It’s more of a convenience goal and is particularly useful when monitoring real-time analytics.

• Goal Setup
  Use ‘Place an Order’ (or ‘Buy Merchandise’) template.  If neither is available, choose ‘Custom’ rather than ‘Template’ based goal setup.
• Goal Description
  Name: Purchase complete
  Goal Type: Destination
• Goal Details
  Destination: Equals To
  Value (copy & paste, then replace ‘yourdomain’): /cgi-yourdomain/sb/thankyou.cgi

* The above goal will trigger twice if a confirmation page is enabled for your store.

Other Engagement Goal Ideas:

• Events (Videos Played, Content Downloaded, etc…)
• Newsletter Sign-ups
• Long Duration Visits