The old king is dead, long live GA4!

Google has introduced a new version of its analytics tool that completely redefines the way we look at web analytics. Google Analytics 4 has been available since the end of 2020, but now is the time to pay serious attention. The existing Universal Analytics service will be discontinued from 1 July 2023 - Google itself uses the term "deprecated" - which means that it will stop processing data. If you have not migrated yet, now is the time.

Google Analytics 4 is a completely new version of Google Analytics and introduces a fundamental change to the measurement concept. Universal Analytics was based around sessions, with metrics such as time spent on the website, bounce rate, visits by device, landing pages and other variables. The foundation of GA4 is the event: whenever something "interesting" happens on the website, the event is recorded.

You can now track, for example, how much content a user has scrolled through, the number of individual actions and clicks, what exactly the user downloaded and which paths they followed - all within an event-based model. This does not mean that you will lose the traditional acquisition metrics. However, you should expect an updated and, to a large extent, different system. Your historical Universal Analytics data will remain available, but no new data will be collected there.

If you need help with the transition, Freelance Core is ready to help. We are prepared for changes, which are more of a rule than an exception in the turbulent online world. We can set up, configure and implement Google Analytics 4, including advanced conversion tracking. In e-commerce, this primarily means events such as adding products to the cart and completing a purchase, as well as submitted forms, file downloads and clicks on website elements that are relevant to your business. We can also connect Google Analytics 4 with Google Search Console and Google Ads if you use them. We will also introduce you to the new features and show you where to find all the useful metrics.

We recommend not postponing implementation and starting at the beginning of the new year. This will give you enough time to gradually fine-tune errors, add further events and have everything fully functional and ready for the new era of measurement by July.

The button amendment? E-shops should pay attention

From 1 January 2023, the legal standards governing e-shops are also changing. First, let us point out who can sleep a little more peacefully during this period of change: anyone using an off-the-shelf e-commerce solution. The provider of the platform itself will generally make the technical adjustments required by the new legislation. You will have considerably more work to do if you previously chose a custom-built solution or created your e-shop independently, for example using the WooCommerce plugin for WordPress.

What is changing?

1. There is a new obligation to provide information about the basic characteristics of goods with digital content and electronic products, including compatibility and interoperability.
2. At the beginning of each order, customers must be clearly informed about delivery restrictions and available payment methods.
3. Before the order is completed, customers must be clearly informed about the total price including delivery costs, for example through a final cart review before submitting the order.
4. It is now explicitly prohibited to add unsolicited items to the shopping cart through pre-selected checkboxes that customers might unknowingly accept during the ordering process.
5. Goods must be delivered within 30 days, unless another deadline has been agreed with the customer in advance.
6. The order button must now use clear wording, for example "Order with obligation to pay" or similar wording.
7. The terms and conditions must be updated to include an email address and telephone number, information about quality guarantees or after-sales service, as well as rules for handling complaints.
8. The terms and conditions must be sent together with the warranty document or invoice in digital form. If you provide manuals, include them together with the terms and conditions and invoice in the footer of the email. Simply linking to terms and conditions available on your website is no longer sufficient. The conditions must be stored on a durable medium.
9. Your terms and conditions must incorporate all changes made to the e-shop, including complaints, withdrawal from the contract, order button wording and other changes.

Complaint rules? Getting stricter

If you have a complaints policy, you will need to expand it and improve your complaint-handling processes. The amendment specifies exactly what a complaint record should contain. It must include:

• when the consumer submitted the complaint,
• what the complaint concerns,
• which method of resolution the consumer requests,
• the consumer's contact details.

The new rules place greater emphasis on keeping consumers informed throughout the complaint process. A business must resolve the complaint within 30 days and provide the consumer with information about how the complaint was resolved. A longer period can be agreed with the consumer if necessary.

If you fail to resolve the complaint within the required period, the consumer may withdraw from the contract or request an appropriate discount. It is also worth adding that, because of the previously unclear wording of the law, there were disputes over whether a complaint could be made only about goods with a defect that already existed when the goods were received, or whether goods with a defect arising later could also be claimed under the concept of a statutory warranty. With the amendment, lawmakers expressly adopted the principle that the seller is liable only for defects that existed at the time of delivery. What does this mean? The consumer must prove that the goods were already defective when received.

This does not mean, however, that the defect must already have been detectable at the time of delivery. Consumer protection would not be effective if the customer always had to prove that the goods were defective from the outset. For this reason, a rebuttable legal presumption was introduced: goods claimed as defective during the first six months after delivery were presumed to have already been defective when delivered. It was then up to the seller to prove that the goods were not defective at the time of delivery.

Lawmakers have now extended this six-month period in favour of consumers to one year. If goods are claimed as defective during the first year after delivery, the seller must prove that the goods were not defective - otherwise, the consumer's complaint will succeed.

Cracking down on fake reviews

Sellers must now ensure that the consumer reviews they publish come from consumers who have actually purchased or used the product or service. This obligation applies both to product reviews and to reviews of the e-shop itself.

As a seller, you are also required to inform consumers about how a review was obtained and how its origin is verified. Many e-shops, for example, allow reviews only from customers who have actually purchased goods from them. This is one of the criteria an e-shop should evaluate. You should also provide sufficient information about how checks are carried out, how reviews are processed, whether only positive or negative reviews are published, and whether reviews are influenced by a contractual relationship or sponsorship. So what should you actually do?

• label sponsored reviews as paid,
• for other reviews, state if you do not check or verify their origin,
• if you do verify their origin, explain how you do it.

If a seller publishes reviews without complying with the rules above, this may be considered an unfair commercial practice. A fine of up to CZK 5,000,000 may be imposed. At the same time, if a buyer was influenced by such a review when purchasing a product, they may have the right to withdraw from the contract within 90 days.

Optimising testimonials and actively collecting them is also important. We recommend collecting reviews on Google and Seznam, particularly through map profiles, because this can significantly improve the long-term credibility of your services and products. You can then use a plugin solution to display these reviews as testimonials on individual URLs of your website. However, this is not necessarily a definitive solution. In an ideal world, 100% verification would require something such as recorded customer calls with consent or email communication in which customers provide the testimonial and explicitly consent to its use.

So how can you make sure that your customers, you and the inspectors are all 100% satisfied? That is a question we are asking ourselves too, and we do not yet have a completely satisfactory answer. In our view, a fully verified review through a Google Maps profile (Google My Business) cannot really exist, because the user's identity is never completely verified on the platform. Google itself states that the reviews left by accounts on a profile are not verified. They may only be checked to identify targeted attacks, competitive manipulation, spam, your own lobbying activity or other unfair practices.

Ideally, a digital verification system would exist for this purpose. You would first send a URL to the customer. The customer would write a review, which would then be automatically stored, for example in cloud storage. In the event of an inspection, you would have a relevant supporting record, naturally with the customer's consent.

If you need advice in this area, get in touch with us. We can help you implement an automated plugin, collect Google reviews through a marketing campaign, incorporate review collection into customer care calls, or use email marketing aimed directly at clients with the goal of obtaining a testimonial. There are plenty of options.