Ecommerce platform access, and why it rarely blocks launch
- For
- Whoever owns the storefront relationship
- Short version
- Usually a later-phase item, not a launch blocker
- Two acceptable answers
- Read-only admin access, or a named developer contact
Why this is on the list at all
Storefront admin access usually appears among the things a measurement engagement needs. It also usually belongs to a later phase than the first campaign launch, and it is worth stating plainly: this can generally wait, and it should.
A first-phase paid search launch does not touch the storefront codebase. Traffic goes to pages that already exist, and baseline conversion tracking deploys through Tag Manager rather than through the storefront.
What it is needed for, later
- Verifying that ecommerce events such as
purchase,begin_checkout, andadd_to_cartfire correctly and with accurate values - Specifying the data layer, so the storefront passes product and transaction detail to Tag Manager in a consistent shape
- Deploying any storefront tag change that cannot be done through Tag Manager alone
Two acceptable answers, either one is fine
Option 1: read-only admin access. An admin user for admin@laurenmilligan.pro with read permissions on configuration and orders. We do not need write access to the storefront, and we would rather not have it.
Option 2: a named developer contact. The name and email of whoever maintains the storefront build, in-house or an agency partner. In many ways this is the better answer, because data layer work needs a developer regardless of who holds the admin login.
If you pick option 2, here is everything we will ask them for, so you can forward it once rather than mediating a conversation:
Confirmation of the platform and version, and whether it is the commercial or open-source edition.
Whether Google Tag Manager is installed via an extension, a theme template, or something else.
Whether a data layer already exists, and if so what it emits on product view, add to cart, and checkout completion.
A staging or development environment where a data layer change can be tested before it reaches production.
Their normal turnaround for a small front-end change, so we can schedule around it.
Two questions worth answering before the next phase kicks off
Not urgent, but noting them so they are not a surprise.
Is there a dedicated quote or consultation request flow, separate from the general contact form? If no such flow exists, that event comes out of scope. Either answer is fine, we would just rather know than guess.
Which forms on the site does someone actually monitor? Sites of any age accumulate forms that still submit somewhere nobody reads. Measuring those as conversions makes the reporting worse, not better.
Questions about anything on this page: admin@laurenmilligan.pro