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I have a website that sells products and I'm using google analytics to know some statistics about the website. Sometimes, errors happens for various reasons and purchases doesn't go through. You then have to refresh the page and try again, then everything works. The website displays the message telling the user to refresh and try again. I'm curious how many people actually do that. My question is, is it possible to know what users do when this error happens? Do they refresh and try again? Do they close the tab or do they do something else?

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    This is something, that is possible, but your question is extremely broad at this point, to be able to answer. You haven't posted any details about your current Analytics setup, and any codes you have tried so far. – kgrg May 11 '19 at 18:54
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    @kgrg I don't have any code, because I'm not even sure whether it's possible or not. I have simply a GA account that tracks traffic with no special setup. I can adjust my setup/subscription accordingly to satisfy this need I have. Can you please elaborate on how to achieve such a thing or on where I can get more information on this? –  May 11 '19 at 19:00
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    What I would do, is to implement an event tracking to indicate, that this error has occurred. I'd also create tracking for page reload, either by creating an other event for this, or by adding -reload suffix to these repeated pageview URLs. If you have a special URL for this error page, it is also easy to track the exit rate specific to this page. Besides of Google Analytics, you might also want to set up heatmap or screen recording tools to understand this behavior. – kgrg May 11 '19 at 19:22
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    @kgrg Thank you! This would give me an idea of how to start. Would you please post your comment as an answer so that I can accept it? –  May 11 '19 at 19:23
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    I've added a few examples and references. I'm glad, if it helps to get you started. – kgrg May 11 '19 at 19:33
  • Exactly what I needed. Thanks again! –  May 11 '19 at 19:33

1 Answers1

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The question is quite broad at this moment, but there are a couple of improvements to your measurement setup, that can help you to investigate this customer behavior.

  • What I would do, is to implement an event tracking to indicate, that this error has occurred. You can find details about event tracking in this guide. Although I suppose, that your users are not likely to enter the website at this page, it might be a good practice to set the non-interaction flag of the event, as it is not actually generated by a user interaction.
  • I'd also create tracking for page reload, either by creating an other event for this, or by adding -reload suffix to these repeated pageview URLs. You can find good resources for this on SO as well, e.g. this one.
  • If you have a special URL for this error page (e.g. purchase-error.html instead of purchase-success.html), it is also easy to track the exit rate specific to this page.

Besides of Google Analytics, you might also want to set up heatmap or screen recording tools to understand this behavior. Hotjar, Lucky Orange are a few examples. (No affiliation.)

kgrg
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