PHP problems with Google Analytics E-commerce: theiconic/php-ga-measurement-protocol

Question

I'm using the theiconic/php-ga-measurement-protocol package and have followed the exact steps as described in the readme, but for reasons I don't quite understand, half of the info does not show up in Google Analytics.

I'm using the following code:

use TheIconic\Tracking\GoogleAnalytics\Analytics;

$trackingID = 'xxxxxxx';
$order = 'obviously an object';
$deal = 'object';

$analytics = new Analytics();

// the Client ID just won't do anything
$analytics->setProtocolVersion('1')
    ->setClientId($order->gaClientID)
    ->setTrackingId($trackingID);

// this part works just fine
$analytics->setTransactionId($transactionID)
    ->setRevenue($order->getTotalPrice(false))
    ->setTax($order->getTaxCost())
    ->sendTransaction();

// here it's as if nothing happens
// Yes, it does loop over all the orderRules but it does not show up in Google Analytics
foreach ($order->getOrderRules() as $orderRule) {
    $analytics->setTransactionId($transactionID)
        ->setItemName($deal->name)
        ->setItemCode($order->dealID)
        ->setItemCategory($deal->getDealCategoryName())
        ->setItemPrice($orderRule->getPrice())
        ->sendItem();
}

And I'm saving the ClientID with this JavaScript into a hidden input:

ga.getAll()[0].get('clientId')

So my issues are basically:

• client ID does not work
• Items do not appear in Google Analytics Ecommerce

Is there anything I am forgetting? I've had several people looking at it, not being able to find out where it's going wrong.

Answer 1

What I would do:

• Enhanced e-commerce : replace your code which is for the old e-commerce with this code which is for enhanced e-commerce. Reason: new (enhanced) is backward compatible with the old and has lots more features, so 0 point of using old e-commerce. Reason 2: the enhanced e-commerce implementation seems "cleaner" in the sense that all the data is sent with 1 single hit at the end ( ->sendEvent(); ), whereas the old e-commerce first sends the transaction (->sendTransaction();) then later the products with separate hits ( ->sendItem(); ).

• Debug : enable debug mode to find out if/why your hits are being rejected by the API.

With enhanced e-commerce it should be something like:

$analytics->setDebug(true)
  ->setEventCategory('Checkout')
  ->setEventAction('Purchase')
  ->sendEvent();
$debugResponse = $response->getDebugResponse();
print_r($debugResponse);

And you should get debug from the API that will look like this:

{
  "hitParsingResult": [
    {
      "valid": false,
      "hit": "GET /debug/collect?tid=fake\u0026v=1 HTTP/1.1",
      "parserMessage": [
        {
          "messageType": "ERROR",
          "description": "The value provided for parameter 'tid' is invalid. Please see ... for details.",
          "parameter": "tid"
        },

• Filters: if your hits are not rejected by the API (once they are validated you have to remove the debug for them to be actually sent), I would look in GA to check if you don't have filters excluding your hits.

• Quotas : although unlikely, I would also check if you haven't reached the API limits hence why your data isn't being collected.

• BONUS: User-ID : if people making purchases have created a user account on your website, use your database ID as User ID : it will be easier to implement (you don't have to reverse engineer the Client ID, use your database ID), and will track the same user regardless of the browser/device used (Client ID is linked to the Cookie, so will be different for each device/browser the user uses, your database ID will always be the same as long as people log in with the same account)

Answer 2

I've tried the enhanced e-commerce again. I've done that before as well, but this time with the debug function on. The client ID gets send properly as seen in hitPersingResult[0]['hit']. But still nothing appears in google Analytics.

Also we're not hitting the limits. I've literally copy pasted the example and this is my response:

Array
(
    [hitParsingResult] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [valid] => 1
                    [parserMessage] => Array
                        (
                        )

                    [hit] => /debug/collect?v=1&tid=UA-xxxxxxxx-11&cid=161460xxxx.xxxx180000&uid=161460xxxx.xxxx180000&ti=1802.48511-1518713633&ta=test%20affiliation&tr=206.95&tt=3.4623966942149&ts=0&pa=purchase&ec=Checkout&ea=Purchase&t=event&pr1id=2033&pr1nm=xxxxx&pr1br=brand&pr1ca=xxxxxx&pr1pr=xxx&pr1qt=1
                )

        )

    [parserMessage] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [messageType] => INFO
                    [description] => Found 1 hit in the request.
                )

        )

)