WooCommerce: Migrate from GA4 to Plausible (E-Commerce Recipe)

Why WooCommerce needs its own playbook

WooCommerce sites typically have THREE analytics layers: WordPress base (GA4 via plugin), WooCommerce hooks (purchase events via gtag), and possibly server-side bridge to Google Ads / Meta CAPI. Migration touches all three. Plausible can replicate purchase tracking but not cart-funnel analysis.

Pre-flight

1. Inventory current install: WordPress base plugin (Site Kit / MonsterInsights / direct theme) AND WooCommerce-specific extension (MonsterInsights eCommerce, Enhanced Ecommerce for WC, etc.).
2. Decide e-commerce parity scope. Plausible handles: purchase total + transaction ID. Does not handle: cart contents, item-level analysis, abandoned-cart funnels.
3. Plan ad-platform impact. If Google Ads / Meta CAPI runs through GA4, you need to migrate the conversion-API stream separately (server-side, not via Plausible).
4. Backup database. WooCommerce stores orders + customers — pre-migration wp db export mandatory.

Step-by-step

1. Install Plausible WordPress plugin (Day 1)

<br />
wp plugin install plausible-analytics –activate<br />

Configure: Settings → Plausible → enter domain. Enable “Track 404”, “Outbound links”, “File downloads”.

2. Hook WooCommerce purchase event (Day 1-2)

Add to your theme’s `functions.php` or a custom mu-plugin:

<br />
add_action(‘woocommerce_thankyou’, function ($order_id) {<br />
    $order = wc_get_order($order_id);<br />
    if (!$order) return;</p>
<p>    $data = [<br />
        ‘name’   => ‘Purchase’,<br />
        ‘url’    => home_url($_SERVER[‘REQUEST_URI’]),<br />
        ‘domain’ => parse_url(home_url(), PHP_URL_HOST),<br />
        ‘props’  => [<br />
            ‘transaction_id’ => $order->get_order_number(),<br />
            ‘value’          => (float) $order->get_total(),<br />
            ‘currency’       => $order->get_currency(),<br />
            ‘item_count’     => $order->get_item_count(),<br />
        ],<br />
    ];</p>
<p>    // Server-side firing avoids ad-blocker loss<br />
    wp_remote_post(‘https://plausible.io/api/event’, [<br />
        ‘headers’ => [<br />
            ‘Content-Type’ => ‘application/json’,<br />
            ‘User-Agent’   => ‘WordPress/’ . get_bloginfo(‘version’),<br />
            ‘X-Forwarded-For’ => $_SERVER[‘REMOTE_ADDR’] ?? ”,<br />
        ],<br />
        ‘body’ => wp_json_encode($data),<br />
        ‘blocking’ => false,  // fire-and-forget<br />
    ]);<br />
}, 10, 1);<br />

Server-side firing is more reliable than gtag-equivalent client-side because it avoids ad-blocker interference on the thank-you page.

3. Track add-to-cart + checkout-start (Day 2)

Optional but useful for funnel analysis:

<br />
// Add to your theme’s footer.php or via wp_enqueue<br />
jQuery(document.body).on(‘added_to_cart’, function() {<br />
  plausible(‘Add to cart’);<br />
});</p>
<p>document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’, function() {<br />
  if (window.location.pathname.includes(‘/checkout/’)) {<br />
    plausible(‘Begin checkout’);<br />
  }<br />
});<br />

4. Dual-tag (Days 2-14)

Two-week minimum dual-tag is non-negotiable for e-commerce — purchase numbers must reconcile before you risk losing conversion tracking.

5. Cleanup (Day 14)

Order matters:

• Disconnect MonsterInsights eCommerce addon FIRST (if installed): Plugins → MonsterInsights eCommerce → Deactivate
• Then disconnect base GA4 plugin (Site Kit / MonsterInsights main)
• Finally search theme + mu-plugins for stray gtag
• Purge cache (WP Rocket / W3 Total Cache)
• Verify no gtag in Network tab on storefront + thank-you page

WooCommerce-specific gotchas

• Refund handling — Plausible’s “Refund” goal doesn’t auto-subtract from prior Purchase. Track separately, reconcile in DuckDB.
• Subscription products — WC Subscriptions fires `woocommerce_subscription_payment_complete` separately. Hook that for recurring revenue tracking.
• Tax / shipping inclusion — Decide whether `value` is `get_total()` (incl tax) or `get_subtotal()` (excl). Match GA4’s prior config or stakeholders will see “different numbers”.
• Currency on multi-currency stores — `get_currency()` returns shop’s display currency, not customer’s. For accurate revenue analysis, store both.
• Caching plugins on thank-you page — If thank-you page is cached, server-side fire still works (PHP runs); client-side won’t fire reliably.