The E-Commerce Data Gap – A Study on Tracking Maturity
2025-11-27 | Case Study | Insights
What we found in our study was both surprising and revealing. The gap in professional tracking setups represents more than just technical debt; it is a massive unclaimed potential for business resilience in a sector that lives and breathes data.
Timo Aden | Co-Founder / Managing Director Digitl
What You Will Learn
What You Will Learn
Our research reveals a clear analytics maturity funnel in the DACH market. While most have basic tracking setups, the path to a truly modern setup narrows dramatically. This sharp drop-off shows where most businesses stop, and where the real competitive advantage begins.
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out of 418 total analyzed companies adopted Google Analytics (GA), which makes it the most widely used tool in the sample.
out of those GA users also use GTM as their central tool for managing tracking codes.
of companies utilizing GA and GTM only have adopted SST as well.
Methodology
Methodology
Our analysis is based on a technical review of the websites of 418 leading E-Commerce companies in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. We examined each website by analyzing its network requests to identify the implemented tracking technologies. Specifically, we looked for: Google Analytics (GA): Presence of a gtag/js request URL. Google Tag Manager (GTM): Presence of a gtm.js request URL. Server-Side Tagging (SST): Evidence from a server-side collect request URL running on a custom domain. This methodology enabled us to determine the adoption rates of these crucial technologies within our sample, primarily focusing on the Google ecosystem. The analysis did not focus on non-Google products such as Adobe or Tealium.
Key Findings
Key Findings
Google Analytics (GA) is the dominant web analysis tool: With a high prevalence of 70.57% Google Analytics is the most widely used tool in the sample. Google Tag Manager (GTM) is not yet a universal standard: Out of those GA users, a slight majority of 71.86% also use GTM as their central tool for managing tracking codes. Server-Side Tagging (SST) remains an unorthodox method: Despite the recognized advantages of a server-side setup, only 24.06% of companies utilizing GA and GTM have adopted SST as well.
Executive Summary
- 1. GA is Standard: Over 70 % of the biggest DACH E-Commerce businesses use Google Analytics. While this is a great start, relying on a basic setup leaves significant potential for data quality and enrichment untapped.
- 2. Control is Lacking: A significant number of businesses using GA have not adopted Google Tag Manager. This creates a management gap, leading to inefficient workflows and a lack of centralized control over their tracking landscape.
- 3. The SST Gap: Only 1 in 4 companies with GTM have adopted Server-Side Tagging (SST). This reveals a critical maturity gap, leaving the majority unprepared for privacy changes and significant signal loss.
- 4. Lead, Don't Follow: The market's low SST adoption is a clear opportunity. A modern, server-side data architecture provides a decisive competitive advantage through superior data control and measurement resilience.
- 5. Real Results: The move to SST by one of Digitl's clients recovered up to 43 % more conversions and enabled real-time profit bidding. It is proof that a modern setup delivers tangible business growth and AI readiness.