What is the difference between a funnel in Universal Analytics and GA4?

Universal Analytics only offered predefined goal funnels with limited flexibility. GA4's Funnel Exploration is far more powerful: you can create open or closed funnels, add up to 10 steps, segment by any dimension, and retroactively analyze historical data without needing to set up the funnel in advance.

How many steps should a GA4 conversion funnel have?

There is no single right answer, but most effective e-commerce funnels include 4 to 6 steps — for example: session start, product view, add to cart, begin checkout, add payment info, and purchase. Too few steps hide the problem; too many create noise. Focus on the stages where a user makes a meaningful decision.

GA4 Conversion Funnels: Visualize and Fix Leaks in Your Sales Funnel

Why Your Sales Funnel Is Leaking (and You Might Not Know It)

Every e-commerce store has a funnel. Visitors land on your site, browse products, add items to their cart, and — ideally — complete a purchase. In reality, the average e-commerce conversion rate hovers around 2-3%. That means roughly 97 out of 100 visitors leave without buying.

The question isn’t whether your funnel leaks. It’s where.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) gives you a powerful, underused tool to answer that question: Funnel Exploration.

How to Set Up a Funnel Exploration in GA4

Funnel Exploration lives inside GA4’s Explore section. Here’s how to build one in under five minutes:

Open your GA4 property and click Explore in the left sidebar.
Select the Funnel exploration template.
Click Steps and define each stage of your funnel. For a typical online store:
- session_start
- view_item
- add_to_cart
- begin_checkout
- purchase
Choose between an open funnel (users can enter at any step) or a closed funnel (users must start at step 1).
Hit Apply and watch the visualization populate.

Open vs. Closed Funnels: Which Should You Use?

Use a closed funnel when you want to measure a strict linear journey — for example, a checkout flow. Use an open funnel when you want to understand behavior more broadly, such as how users from different landing pages eventually reach a purchase.

Reading the Data: Where Are Users Dropping Off?

Once your funnel is built, GA4 shows you completion and abandonment rates for every step. A typical result might look like this:

Step	Users	Drop-off Rate
Session Start	50,000	—
Product View	22,000	56%
Add to Cart	4,400	80%
Begin Checkout	2,200	50%
Purchase	1,500	32%

In this example, the biggest leak is between product view and add to cart — an 80% drop. That’s your priority.

Segment to Find Hidden Problems

Averages lie. Break your funnel down by:

Device type — Mobile funnels often convert 50% worse than desktop.
Traffic source — Paid traffic may enter the funnel with high intent but stall at checkout if landing pages don’t match ad promises.
New vs. returning users — First-time visitors typically need more trust signals.

At Lueur Externe, we routinely discover that a client’s mobile checkout abandonment rate is 20-30 percentage points higher than desktop — a gap that’s invisible in aggregate data.

Common Funnel Leaks and How to Fix Them

High Drop-off Between Product View and Add to Cart

Improve product images and descriptions.
Display clear pricing, shipping costs, and stock availability.
Add social proof: reviews, ratings, purchase counters.

High Drop-off at Checkout

Offer guest checkout — 26% of users abandon carts because they’re forced to create an account (Baymard Institute).
Reduce form fields to the strict minimum.
Show security badges and accepted payment methods prominently.

High Drop-off Between Add to Cart and Begin Checkout

Use exit-intent popups with a small incentive.
Send cart abandonment emails within 1-2 hours.
Ensure the cart is easily accessible from every page.

Track Your Fixes Over Time

After implementing changes, create a comparison date range in your Funnel Exploration to measure before-and-after performance. Even small improvements compound: fixing a single step from 20% to 25% completion can mean a 25% revenue increase without spending a single extra euro on ads.

Conclusion: Stop Guessing, Start Measuring

GA4 Funnel Exploration is one of the highest-ROI analytics tools available — yet most businesses never configure it. If you visualize your funnel, segment it properly, and fix the weakest step first, you’ll see measurable revenue gains within weeks.

Need expert guidance? The certified analytics and e-commerce team at Lueur Externe helps businesses across France and beyond turn GA4 data into actionable growth strategies. Get in touch today and let’s plug those leaks together.