How do I track e-commerce transactions?

How do I track e-commerce transactions?

This article authored by ivantage Limited, an Urchin Software Authorized Consultant

Urchin supports a client-side data collection technique for capturing e-commerce transactions. With some simple additions to your receipt page, Urchin can automatically detect and record transaction and product information. The required information is placed in a hidden form, which is parsed for transaction and product information. Most template-driven e-commerce systems can be modified to include the information hidden in the receipt.

Enabling E-Commerce Tracking

The first step of tracking e-commerce transactions is to enable e-commerce reporting for your selected profile. To enable e-commer_e reporting, please follow these steps:

Log in to Urchin
Click Edit next to the profile that you would like to enable.
On the Profile Settings page, click Edit next to Main Website Profile Information.
Change the E-Commerce Website radio button from No to Yes.

Receipt Page Format

The second step is to ensure that the tracking code is included in the receipt page in the standard fashion. This may be done using a server-side include or other template driver, or can simply be hand-coded into your HTML code:

   <script src="/urchin.js" type="text/javascript">
   </script>

Next, somewhere in the receipt below the tracking code, the following lines need to be written by your engine. Everything in brackets should be replaced by actual values, as described in the Parameter Reference, below.

   <form style="display:none;" name="utmform">
   <textarea id="utmtrans">UTM:T|[order-id]|[affiliation]|
   [total]|[tax]| [shipping]|[city]|[state]|[country] UTM:I|[order-id]|[sku/code]|[productname]|[category]|[price]|
   [quantity] </textarea>
   </form>

Finally, the utmSetTrans function must be called after the form is submitted in order to record the transaction. This can be most easily accomplished through a body onLoad event within the opening <body> tag:

   <body onLoad="javascript:__utmSetTrans()">

If you do not have the ability to edit the body tag, you can call the utmSetTrans function within a separate script tag as long as you make sure that the function is called after the form:

   <script type="text/javascript">
   __utmSetTrans();
   </script>

NOTE: Do not include the square brackets when setting the values for the form. In addition, do not use commas to separate the thousands place in your total, tax and shipping fields; any digits after the comma will be dropped.

Example

UTM:T|34535|Main Store|111108.06|8467.06|10.00|San Diego|CA|USA
UTM:I|34535|XF-1024|Urchin T-Shirt|Shirts|11399.00|9
UTM:I|34535|CU-3424|Urchin Drink Holder|Accessories|20.00|2

Within the hidden form, there are two types of lines: the transaction line and the item lines. For each transaction, there should be only one transaction line, which is indicated by the "T" immediately after the "UTM:". This line specifies the total for the transaction, including any taxes or shipping costs and other information. For each item in the receipt, create an item line which is specified by the "I". The Item lines can contain product names, codes, unit prices and quantities. There is no limit to the number of item lines per transaction.

Parameter Reference

Transaction line variables

[order-id]      Your internal unique order id number
[affiliation]   Optional partner or store affiliation
[total]         Total amount of the transaction in pounds
[tax]   Tax amount of the transaction
[shipping]      The shipping amount of the transaction
[city]  City with which to correlate the transaction
[state/region]  State or province
[country]       Country

Item line variables

[order-id]      Your internal unique order id number (should be same as transaction line)
[sku/code]      Product SKU code
[product name]  Product name or description
[category]      Category of the product or variation
[price]         Unit price of the product
[quantity]      Quantity ordered