Shopify tracks every order directly in its system. GA4 relies on tracking events that fire when customers complete checkout. Several things can prevent those events from being tracked:

Some customers use browser extensions or privacy settings that block analytics tracking. While Pasilobus Google Analytics is designed to work around most blockers, some extreme privacy configurations can still prevent tracking.

GA4 only tracks orders placed after you installed and configured the app. Historical orders won’t appear in GA4.

Orders created manually in Shopify Admin (like phone orders) or draft orders converted to orders may not trigger tracking events.

If a customer’s payment fails and they retry, or if there’s a delay in payment confirmation, the tracking event might not fire correctly.

Some payment methods redirect customers to external sites (like certain local payment providers), which can interrupt tracking.

For most stores, GA4 captures 90-98% of orders tracked by Shopify. The exact percentage depends on:

A 5-10% difference between GA4 and Shopify is typical and expected.

For revenue and order counts: Always use Shopify’s reports as your source of truth. Shopify captures every order regardless of tracking.

For customer behavior analysis: Use GA4. It shows you how customers browse, what they add to cart, where they drop off, and which marketing channels drive traffic.

For conversion optimization: Use GA4’s funnel analysis to understand the customer journey, but remember the actual conversion numbers are slightly higher than reported.

When comparing GA4 to Shopify:

To maximize tracking accuracy:

Even with perfect setup, some gap between Shopify and GA4 is unavoidable due to ad blockers and privacy tools. Focus on trends and relative changes rather than exact numbers matching.