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Guide 37 · Ecommerce · GA4 + Tag Manager

Send the add_shipping_info event: the shipping choice, with the tier that fills the Checkout journey

Checked 11 November 2026 · Verification: reference file checked in Python (figures recomputed from the worked example) · Steps traced to Google's developer docs and Analytics Help, opened 11 November 2026 · 5-minute read

The checkout journey has a shipping step that only this event fills: send add_shipping_info when the visitor picks a shipping method, with the tier in shipping_tier.

Expected signal

After step 3, DebugView shows an add_shipping_info event with shipping_tier Ground and value 72.05. After about 24 hours, the Checkout journey report shows the Add delivery step, which stays empty without this event.

Download the reference: the add-shipping-info-event reference (JSON) (1474 bytes, MD5 95ebfd78d019fd1bcb510f714e4fc2a7). It holds the event parameters, the worked example, and the recomputed figures.

What you need

  • The Google tag on the site. The event is sent through the Google tag; the install guide covers it.
  • Access to the website source code, or a Tag Manager container. The event fires when the visitor submits shipping information.
  • The shipping options the store offers. The worked choice is Google's example tier, Ground, on the two-item cart worth 72.05.

The trace

  1. Fire the event when shipping information is submitted. The add_shipping_info event signifies a user has submitted their shipping information in the checkout, so it belongs on the shipping step submit, not on the shipping page load. Send gtag("event", "add_shipping_info", { currency: "USD", value: 72.05, coupon: "SUMMER_FUN", shipping_tier: "Ground", items: [...] }) with the full cart in the items array.
  2. Send the tier exactly as the store names it. The shipping_tier is a free-text string, and Google's examples are Ground, Air, and Next-day. Pick the store's own names and spell them the same way every time: Ground on every order, not ground on some. The dimension groups by exact string, so two spellings become two tiers.
  3. Keep the cart value the same as begin_checkout. The value is still the cart total: 10.01 × 3 = 30.03 plus 21.01 × 2 = 42.02, which is 30.03 + 42.02 = 72.05. Shipping cost itself is not in value; it is the shipping parameter on the later purchase event.
  4. Check it in DebugView. Turn on debug mode, submit the shipping step, and open DebugView (Admin, then Data display, then DebugView). Select the add_shipping_info event and check shipping_tier reads Ground and the value reads 72.05. One shipping submit must produce one event.
  5. Confirm the reports after about 24 hours. The Checkout journey report has four steps — Begin checkout, Add delivery, Add payment, Purchase — and the Add delivery step is fed by this event alone. A checkout journey with an empty second step is telling you this event is missing, not that nobody ships.

Dead ends

DEAD END — THE TIER WITH TWO SPELLINGS. Ground and ground are two different shipping tiers in the report. The same happens with Next-day and Next Day. Fix the tier strings in the code; do not let the store's display labels drift into the event.

DEAD END — THE EVENT ON THE SHIPPING PAGE LOAD. A visitor who loads the shipping page but never picks a method has not added shipping information. Firing the event on page load inflates the Add delivery step and hides the real drop-off between checkout start and shipping choice.

DEAD END — SHIPPING COST INSIDE VALUE. The value on this event is the cart total, 72.05, with no shipping and no tax. Putting the shipping charge into value inflates the cart and breaks the comparison with the purchase value that follows.

End state

Every shipping submit sends one add_shipping_info event with shipping_tier Ground, the full cart, and value 30.03 + 42.02 = 72.05 with currency USD. DebugView shows the event the same minute, and after about 24 hours the Checkout journey counts the Add delivery step.

Sources

Checked 11 November 2026. The event definition above is the one in Google's recommended events reference, opened 11 November 2026, with the ecommerce guide for the checkout sequence. No step was run inside a live Analytics property, because that needs a Google sign-in and this site does not sign in as anyone. The figures were recomputed in Python: 10.01 × 3 = 30.03, 21.01 × 2 = 42.02, and 30.03 + 42.02 = 72.05. The reference file was checked the same way.