7 Common WooCommerce GA4 Tracking Issues (And How to Fix Them on WordPress)

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is here to stay. It’s powerful, flexible, and the new standard for tracking user behavior and sales. But if you’re running a WooCommerce store on WordPress, getting GA4 set up correctly can feel like wrestling with code and settings you never asked for.

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Maybe your purchases aren’t showing up. Maybe events are firing twice. Maybe you’re staring at empty reports and wondering, “What did I miss?”

You’re not alone—and you’re in the right place. In this guide, we’ll walk through the most common GA4 tracking issues in WooCommerce and show you exactly how to fix them—using GTM4WP (Google Tag Manager for WordPress) and Google Tag Manager (GTM).

Let’s dive in.

1. GA4 Isn’t Tracking Purchases

The problem:
You followed all the steps, but your GA4 reports don’t show any purchases. This is one of the most frustrating issues, especially when you’re trying to measure actual revenue.

What’s going wrong:

The purchase event isn’t firing
The dataLayer isn’t sending the right information
Your tracking setup might be incomplete

How to fix it:

Turn on Enhanced Measurement in your GA4 data stream.
Install GTM4WP, a free plugin that automatically adds WooCommerce purchase data into the dataLayer.
Set up a GA4 event tag in GTM that listens for the purchase event from GTM4WP.
Use DebugView in GA4 to check if the purchase is firing correctly.

Make a test purchase to verify the event is working as expected.

2. You’re Seeing Duplicate Transactions

The problem:
The same transaction appears more than once in GA4, which inflates your sales numbers.

Why this happens:

The purchase tag fires more than once
Users refresh the thank-you page, and the event fires again
A unique transaction ID is missing

How to fix it:

Make sure a unique transaction_id is included in every purchase (GTM4WP does this).
Ensure your GA4 purchase tag fires only once, triggered by the order confirmation page.
Use GA4 DebugView and GTM’s Preview Mode to test for duplicates.

3. Add-to-Cart & Checkout Events Are Missing

The problem:
You aren’t seeing add-to-cart or checkout events in your reports, which makes it hard to analyze your funnel.

What causes it:

These events aren’t set up by default
Your theme might override the default WooCommerce behavior
GTM isn’t picking up those events from the dataLayer

How to fix it:

Use GTM4WP, which automatically tracks events like add_to_cart, begin_checkout, and view_item.
In GTM, create event tags that listen for those specific triggers.
Test them using GTM Preview Mode or Tag Assistant to ensure everything works.

4. Events Are Firing, But the Data Is Wrong

The problem:
Events are showing up in GA4, but with the wrong values—like missing product names or incorrect prices.

Why this happens:

The dataLayer isn’t properly structured
You’re pulling the wrong variables in GTM
Required fields aren’t being sent

How to fix it:

Use GTM’s Preview Mode to inspect the data being sent with each event.
GTM4WP sends properly formatted eCommerce data, but you still need to map it correctly in your tags.
Double-check fields like transaction_id, value, currency, item_name, and item_id when setting up your GA4 tags.

Make sure every item in the event includes all the required parameters.

5. Your Data Isn’t Showing Up (or It’s Delayed)

The problem:
Your events seem to be working, but the data either appears much later or not at all.

Why this happens:

GA4 takes time to process some reports
You haven’t marked important events as conversions
You might be looking in the wrong report

How to fix it:

Use GA4’s DebugView to check in real time if your events are firing.
Mark key events like purchase as conversions in GA4 under Configure → Events.
Give GA4 some time—standard reports (especially monetization) can take several hours to update.

6. GTM Isn’t Working Correctly

The problem:
Your tags aren’t firing as expected—or worse, they’re firing more than once.

What’s going on:

Triggers are set up incorrectly
Multiple tags are being used for the same event
GTM was installed more than once (plugin and manually)

How to fix it:

Use GTM Preview Mode to test your tags and see when they’re firing.
Avoid duplicates by limiting one tag per event and using exceptions where needed.
Let GTM4WP handle the GTM container installation. Don’t add GTM code manually in your theme or other plugins.