70% of Your Shoppers Abandon at Checkout—Here’s Why!

Shopping cart abandonment occurs when users add items to their cart but leave without starting checkout. It’s one of the most common drop-off points in the ecommerce funnel and often results from unexpected costs, mandatory account creation, or lack of trust signals. Tracking this behavior is essential for recovering lost sales through targeted remarketing and optimizing the pre-checkout experience.

💡 Checkout abandonment happens when:

• A user adds products to the cart but never starts checkout.
• A user starts checkout but never completes payment.
• A user reaches the payment page but doesn’t finalize the order.

Understanding these patterns also helps merchants uncover possible reasons for abandonment during checkout, such as trust issues or friction in the payment process.

Key Steps to Track in GTM & GA4

• Cart Additions (add_to_cart event)
• Checkout Started (begin_checkout event)
• Shipping Info Submitted (add_shipping_info event)
• Payment Info Entered (add_payment_info event)
• Purchase Completed (purchase event)

By tracking these steps, we can pinpoint where users drop off, especially during abandoned checkout and trigger remarketing campaigns.

Since GTM Assistant automates tag setup, it can configure checkout funnel tracking with GTM & GA4 using Shopify’s data layer.

Automatically Creates GTM Triggers for Checkout Steps

GTM Assistant pre-configures these events in Triggers:

• Trigger 1: Fires when a user starts checkout (begin_checkout).
• Trigger 2: Fires when a user adds shipping info (add_shipping_info).
• Trigger 3: Fires when a user adds payment info (add_payment_info).
• Trigger 4: Fires when a user completes a purchase (purchase).

These triggers are automatically created inside GTM when merchants install GTM Assistant.

GA4 Events for Checkout Steps

GTM Assistant automatically configures GA4 Event Tags that send checkout funnel data.

Abandonment Tracking & Retargeting

Once the GTM Assistant app automatically sets up these events, merchants can:

1. Create GA4 Audiences

• Audience 1: Users who started checkout but never completed it.
• Audience 2:Users who reached the payment page but didn’t buy.

These audiences can be used for Google Ads retargeting.

2. Facebook Retargeting (Meta Pixel Integration)

GTM Assistant sends checkout steps are sent to Facebook Pixel:

• AddToCart
• InitiateCheckout
• Purchase

If users abandon at any stage, merchants can retarget them with special offers.

By adding automated checkout abandonment tracking, GTM Assistant provides massive value to Shopify merchants. It removes technical barriers and ensures all checkout events are tracked & optimized inside GTM & GA4 without manual setup.