Measure_blk

One of the most important items to measure on a car dealer website is the inventory views. What Makes, Models, Vehicle Types, etc. are being searched by customers. Google Analytics is a very powerful analytics tool and with a little massaging can track these items very well. Follow the steps below to track these and more for the CarDealerPress plugin.

How to add Custom Dimensions for VDP tracking

Full Reference can be found here: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/platform/customdimsmets-overview

 

1. Under the 'Admin' tab, you will need the 'Tracking Code' from GA

Place it before the body tag in scripts. Also, you will need to be sure you are using the new 'analytics.js' tracking code. (https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/). NOTE the custom dimensions do not report if you have a plugin that is adding the UA code.

ga-custom-dimension-tracking-code-1-5

2. Click on 'Custom Definitions' then 'Custom Dimensions'

ga-custom-dimension-start-2-5

3. Click on 'New Custom Dimension'

Name the dimension that you are after. We have found the selecting the 'scope' to 'user' is best for reporting.

ga-custom-dimenson-overview-5-5

 

 

ga-custom-dimension-tracking-code-1-5

4. Copy the JS code, note the dimensionValue number. The code is the same for all dimensions just the numeric number changes.

ga-created-custom-dimension-code-4-5

5. When done you should have something that looks like below.

ga-custom-dimenson-overview-5-5

6. Add code to site, before the . Below is the code for the any of the inventory themes, if you have customized the theme the code variables will be different, but the structure should be the same.

// custom dimensions
if( jQuery('#inventory-detail').length ) {
var saleclass = jQuery('.vehicle-saleclass-value').text();
ga('set', 'dimension1', saleclass);
var year=jQuery('.inventory-content-year').text();
ga('set', 'dimension2', year);
var make=jQuery('.inventory-content-make').text();
ga('set', 'dimension3', make);
var model=jQuery('.inventory-content-model').text();
ga('set', 'dimension4', model);
var stocknumber=jQuery('.inventory-stock-number').text();
ga('set', 'dimension5', stocknumber);
var trim = jQuery('.inventory-trim').text();
ga('set', 'dimension6', trim);
var extcolor = jQuery('.vehicle-exterior-value').text();
ga('set', 'dimension7', extcolor);
var intcolor = jQuery('.vehicle-interior-value').text();
ga('set', 'dimension8', intcolor);
var odometer = jQuery('.vehicle-odometer-value').text();
ga('set', 'dimension9', odometer);
var msrp = jQuery('.hidden-msrp').text();
ga('set', 'dimension10', msrp);
var asking = jQuery('.hidden-asking').text();
ga('set', 'dimension11', asking);
var main = jQuery('.hidden-main').text();
ga('set', 'dimension12', main);

ga('send', 'pageview', {
'dimension1': saleclass,
'dimension2': year,
'dimension3': make,
'dimension4': model,
'dimension5': stocknumber,
'dimension6': trim,
'dimension7': extcolor,
'dimension8': intcolor,
'dimension9': odometer,
'dimension10': msrp,
'dimension11': asking,
'dimension12': main,
});
}

7. Set up reports under the 'customization' tab.

8. Sample Reports (Chevrolet Dealer, click for larger image)

Model overview:

model-overview

Color Overview:

color-overview

Rebate (AIS) Overview:

rebate-overview