By Andrew ALEXANDER, Vice President Analytics
Back in 2014, global retail e-commerce sales totalled around $1.8 trillion. By 2021, that number was projected to hit $4.8 trillion—a staggering 260% increase. Apart from the explosion in Netflix subscriptions or aircon sales during summer, what other sector has scaled like this?
At TMI, the early years were all about one thing: conversions at the best CPA. Most clients just wanted leads or sign-ups. The long game? Not top of mind. If we could drive traffic that acted—mission accomplished.
Fast forward to today, and e-commerce is everywhere. It’s a core part of our consultancy work, and our client portfolio in this space continues to grow. With that growth, we’ve evolved too—particularly in how we use data.
Analytics 360: A Different League
We’ve upgraded to Google Analytics 360, and it’s a game-changer. I’ve spent time deep-diving into the Suite with our e-commerce and SEO teams, and what we’ve discovered is a far cry from the GA of 15 years ago—back when “bounce rate” sounded like a tennis stat.
As I wrote recently:
“Because Google Marketing Platform (GMP) brings together DoubleClick Digital Marketing and the Google Analytics 360 Suite, all the elements of the user journey are now available to agencies and advertisers in one place.”
That’s not just a convenience—it’s a necessity. With the complexity and volume of e-commerce data today, a unified platform isn’t optional anymore.
Here are just a few of the standout features we’re loving:
1. Unsampled Reports and BigQuery Integration
Before 360, pulling more than 5,000 rows from GA was a non-starter. With unsampled reports, that limit is gone. Now, entire datasets can be extracted using API tokens—with 12,500 tokens daily for agencies.
Better yet, plug that into Google BigQuery and you’ve got scalable, centralised data storage. No more cluttered G Suite drives full of Excel files. Now we query once and build dashboards, reports, and insights from one clean, central source.
This isn’t just more efficient—it’s transformational.
2. Google Optimize: Going Beyond A/B
Landing page testing has levelled up. Thanks to Google Optimize, we’re no longer limited to A/B testing. Now it’s A through J—up to 10 UX variations per page.
We can test tiny changes—one variable at a time—and split traffic precisely. That means cleaner results, higher statistical confidence, and ultimately, more actionable insights.
Clients don’t just like it—they love it. Because for the first time, they can see what truly moves the needle.
3. Custom Dimensions, Reimagined
In legacy GA, custom dimensions were second-class citizens. They couldn’t be used as primary dimensions in custom reports, which meant extra admin just to pull relevant metrics.
Now? You can build reports using custom dimensions as primaries. No more Excel pivot tables. Just set, run, screenshot, send. The insight pipeline is smoother and faster—and it puts control back in the client’s hands.
Final Thoughts
There’s so much more to explore inside Analytics 360—enough to fill a Russian novel, honestly. But for now, here’s the key takeaway:
If you’re in e-commerce and not sitting down with your Analytics 360 team regularly, you’re missing out. The tools are here, the data is rich, and the insights are powerful.
Block out some time. Dive in. You’ll thank yourself later.
