Setting up analytics on your storefront gives you full visibility into how visitors browse and buy. You control which tracking tools are active, and Zest's team handles the installation — no code knowledge required. This guide walks you through finding your IDs, getting them to Zest, and verifying that data is flowing correctly.
Overview: Supported Tracking Platforms
Zest supports three tracking integrations for storefronts:
Platform | What it does |
Google Tag (GA4, GTM, or Google Ads) | Powers ecommerce analytics, conversion tracking, and audience building |
Meta Pixel | Enables Facebook/Instagram ad retargeting and conversion measurement |
LinkedIn Insight Tag | Enables LinkedIn ad conversion tracking and audience building |
All three are optional. Use any combination based on your marketing needs.
Important: Zest can configure only one Google tag per storefront. If you use Google Analytics 4, Google Ads, and Google Tag Manager, provide your GTM container ID as the single tag and manage your GA4 and Ads tags inside GTM. This gives you full control over your tracking configuration through your own GTM account.
Finding Your Tracking IDs
You only need to provide an ID — not a full code snippet. Here is where to find each one:
Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Sign in to Google Analytics.
Go to Admin > Data Streams.
Select your web data stream.
Copy the Measurement ID — it starts with G-.
Google Tag Manager (GTM)
Sign in to Google Tag Manager.
Open your account and select your container.
Copy the Container ID — it starts with GTM-.
Google Ads
Sign in to Google Ads.
Go to Tools > Data Manager > Google tag.
Copy the Tag ID — it starts with AW-.
Providing Your IDs to Zest
If your partner dashboard has analytics settings enabled:
Log in to your Zest partner dashboard.
Go to Settings.
Scroll to the Web Analytics section.
Enter your tracking IDs:
Google Tag ID — accepts G-, GTM-, or AW- formats.
Meta Pixel ID.
LinkedIn Partner ID.
LinkedIn Conversion ID (required for conversion tracking; the Partner ID alone enables audience building only).
Click Update.
If you don't see analytics settings in your dashboard:
Email your Zest customer support manager with the tracking ID(s) you'd like installed. Engineering will add them to your storefront.
Tip: Tracking pixels are not a launch requirement — they can be added after your storefront goes live. That said, installing them early gives you historical data from day one, which is useful even if you're starting with organic promotion only.
Setting Up Cross-Domain Tracking
Your Zest storefront runs on its own subdomain (for example, gifts.yourbrand.com). For sessions and UTM attribution to carry over when visitors navigate from your main website to your storefront, you need to configure cross-domain tracking in your own Google account. Zest does not configure this for you.
To set up cross-domain tracking in GA4:
Go to Admin > Data Streams and select your web stream.
Under Google tag, click Configure tag settings.
Click Configure your domains.
Add your storefront subdomain (e.g., gifts.yourbrand.com).
Click Save.
To set up cross-domain tracking in Google Tag Manager:
In GTM, go to Admin > Google tag > Settings.
Under Domains, add your storefront subdomain.
Submit and publish your container.
Important: GA4 ecommerce events won't populate correctly until both your DNS records are fully propagated and cross-domain tracking is configured. Attribution gaps and session breaks almost always trace back to this step being incomplete, not to a missing tag on the Zest side.
About cross-domain parameters: If you see unusual long query strings in GA4's page location reports, those are Google's session-linking parameters confirming that cross-domain tracking is working. Google typically strips these from standard reports, and their presence is not a cause for concern.
Google Ads Conversion Tracking
Because visitors move across domains during checkout (from your main website to the storefront), client-side Google Ads conversion tags may not fire reliably on their own. The most reliable approach is to route conversions through GA4:
Provide your GA4 Measurement ID (G-XXXXXXXX) to Zest for installation.
Set up cross-domain tracking in GA4 (see Section 4 above).
In GA4, go to Admin > Product links > Google Ads links and link your Google Ads account.
In Google Ads, import the GA4 purchase event as a conversion action.
Important: Zest blocks automated bot traffic to prevent abuse. This cannot be disabled or customized per storefront. If your ad platform flags an access error when verifying your storefront URL as an ad destination, this is caused by bot blocking — not a tracking tag problem. We recommend routing paid ad traffic to a landing page on your own website first, then redirecting to your storefront. This also improves attribution accuracy.
Standard GA4 Events Pushed by Zest
Zest automatically pushes the following standard GA4 ecommerce events. See Google Analytics' event documentation for parameter specifications.
Event | When it fires |
page_view | On every storefront page load |
view_item_list | When the product grid is visible on screen |
view_item | When a product detail modal opens |
select_item | When a shopper clicks on a product |
add_to_cart | When an item is added to the cart |
remove_from_cart | When an item is removed from the cart |
begin_checkout | When checkout is initiated |
add_payment_info | When payment details are confirmed |
purchase | When an order is successfully completed |
About conversion tracking on the order confirmation page: Use the purchase event — not the order confirmation page URL — for conversion tracking. The confirmation page URL includes a unique order identifier that cannot be reused as a generic URL trigger. Event-based tracking via purchase is the standard and correct approach.
Verifying Your Tracking Is Working
After Zest confirms installation:
Place a test order on your storefront.
In GA4, open Reports > Realtime and check for events — look for page_view, add_to_cart, and purchase.
If using Google Ads, check your Google Ads conversion report to confirm the purchase action is recording.
If events aren't appearing:
Confirm your DNS records are fully propagated.
Confirm cross-domain tracking is enabled (see Section 4).
Check your GA4 account settings — most tracking issues come from the brand's configuration, not from the Zest installation.
Tip: Your Zest CSM can provide an email template to send to your analytics or marketing team to guide them through the verification process.
Updating or Removing Tracking Pixels
If Zest installed your tag (or you set it via your partner dashboard):
Email your Zest CSM with the updated tag information, or update the ID directly in Settings > Web Analytics if self-serve is available for your account.
Zest can remove any pixel they installed. Updates typically take about 24 hours once an engineering ticket is submitted.
If a tag is inside your own GTM container:
Manage it directly in your GTM account. Zest cannot modify tags inside your GTM container.
Cookie Consent and Third-Party Scripts
Zest's built-in cookie notice
Zest Storefronts include a cookie consent banner by default. The banner:
Appears once per visitor per browser/device and is dismissed by clicking Accept.
Can be disabled if your brand has its own cookie notice — ask your Zest CSM or update the toggle in Settings > Web Analytics if able.
Third-party widgets and custom scripts
Zest can add third-party widget scripts (such as chat tools or review widgets) on a case-by-case basis after an engineering review. The review covers:
Safety verification of the script.
Content Security Policy updates to allow the script to load.
Keep in mind:
You may need to configure the third-party tool to recognize your storefront domain.
Custom scripts are outside Zest's control — if a third-party tool behaves unexpectedly, Zest cannot troubleshoot it.
A/B testing platforms (e.g., VWO) may be possible but are not guaranteed to work as expected.
Tips and Common Scenarios
Using separate storefronts for different tracking goals
If you run multiple storefronts (for example, a public gifting storefront and a private employee gifting portal), you can apply different tracking configurations to each. For example:
Enable full ad pixels on your public storefront for paid campaign tracking.
Omit advertising pixels from your private storefront to prevent corporate bulk orders from skewing your D2C ad targeting.
Discuss specific configurations with your Zest CSM.
Should I use my existing GA property or create a new one?
Most brands use their existing website GA4 property. This lets you compare website visitors with storefront converters while keeping all revenue data in one place. Zest sends standard ecommerce events that integrate directly into your existing setup.
Retargeting visitors without capturing emails
Tracking pixels enable retargeting of anonymous visitors but do not collect email addresses. If your goal is email lead capture, route paid traffic to a landing page on your own website to collect emails before redirecting to your Zest storefront.