Add Google Analytics E-Commerce Integration

Objective

Enable merchants using Dodo Payments to track purchase funnel performance and revenue attribution in Google Analytics, using GA4 recommended e-commerce events.

Problem

Merchants currently lack a standardized, reliable way to measure:

• Checkout conversion rate and drop-off points

• Revenue, taxes, shipping, discounts, and refunds in GA4

• Campaign and traffic source attribution to transactions

• Product level performance and LTV signals

Scope

Implement GA4 e-commerce event instrumentation for the Dodo Payments checkout and post-payment lifecycle, with optional support for server-side reporting to improve accuracy.

Core Requirements

1) GA4 Client-Side Events (Checkout Funnel)

Emit GA4 events (via gtag or GTM dataLayer) from the Dodo hosted checkout pages:

• view_item (when a product or plan is viewed, if applicable)

• add_to_cart (if cart exists)

• begin_checkout

• add_shipping_info (if shipping is collected)

• add_payment_info

• purchase (on success page / confirmation)

Each event should support standard GA4 e-commerce parameters:

• currency, value, tax, shipping, coupon, discount

• transaction_id

• items[] with item_id, item_name, item_category, price, quantity

2) Refunds and Chargebacks

Support revenue corrections in GA4:

• refund (full and partial)

• Chargeback or dispute lifecycle events as custom events (example: dispute_opened, dispute_won, dispute_lost) with transaction_id reference.

3) Merchant Configuration

In Dodo merchant dashboard:

• Toggle: Enable GA4 e-commerce tracking

• Input: GA4 Measurement ID (G-XXXX)

• Optional: GTM Container ID

• Mode selection:

  • Client-side only

  • Hybrid (client-side + server-side)

  • Server-side only (advanced)

4) Server-Side Tracking (Recommended)

Send GA4 events from Dodo backend for:

• purchase

• refund

• Subscription renewals (if subscriptions exist)

• Failed payment attempts (custom event)

Use GA4 Measurement Protocol with:

• client_id captured at checkout (and stored against the transaction)

• Optional user_id support (if merchant provides it)

• Idempotency keys to avoid duplicates on retries

5) Attribution and Cross-Domain

Ensure attribution continuity for hosted checkout:

• Preserve gclid, gbraid, wbraid, utm_* parameters

• Cross-domain linking support if merchant initiates checkout from their domain

• Document required GTM/gtag settings for cross-domain measurement

Non-Functional Requirements

• Privacy and compliance: honor consent mode where applicable

• Avoid double counting: dedupe purchase events (client and server)

• Low latency and resilience: backend events should be retry-safe

• Observability: logs for emitted events and error reasons (PII redacted)

Acceptance Criteria

• A merchant can enable GA4 e-commerce tracking and see:

  • Checkout funnel events in GA4 Realtime within minutes

  • A single purchase per transaction with correct transaction_id, value, currency, and items[]

  • Refund events tied to the same transaction_id

• Attribution: traffic source and campaign are visible for purchase conversions

• No PII is sent to GA4 (emails, phone numbers, addresses must be excluded)

Deliverables

• Merchant dashboard settings page

• Checkout instrumentation (GTM and gtag support)

• Backend Measurement Protocol integration

• Documentation:

  • Setup guide (GTM + direct gtag)

  • Event mapping reference

  • Troubleshooting (duplicates, missing client_id, blocked scripts)

Nice-to-Have

• Enhanced conversions (only if compliant and consented)

• BigQuery export guidance for GA4 + Dodo reconciliation

• Built-in “Analytics Health” checker in Dodo dashboard (detect missing tags, blocked cookies, consent mode issues)