The scenarios below map the calls you make through the Dotdigital Tag to real campaigns, so marketers and developers can work from the same reference during setup. Each scenario explains why the data matters for the campaign it powers, then lists the calls and attributes you should implement.
Further documentation
For the reasoning behind each individual call, see Dotdigital Tag API: when, where and why.
For the full technical reference covering every call and attribute, see the Developer Hub documentation.
First-time visitor browses products, doesn’t add to cart
Why it matters
A visitor who browses but doesn't buy is one of your best recovery opportunities: you already have their attention. To send an abandoned browse campaign, Personalization needs to know which products they viewed and who they are.
The browsing data comes from ddg.productBrowse and ddg.productList. The visitor data comes from ddg.identify: without it, the session is still stored against an anonymous record and can personalize their next visit, but there's no contact to send a campaign to.
Data to track
1. Track home page and category page views and any other pages the shopper visits
Call the relevant page-specific tracking call, or window.ddg.track(), for the pages the user has visited.
Required attributes:
Attribute | Examples |
url | |
title | “Homepage” or “Men’s clothing” |
pageType | “1” (Homepage) or “3” (product_list) |
For product pages, call window.ddg.productBrowse()
Required attributes:
Attribute | Description or example |
Id | Unique string ID for the product, for example, “686-foundation-jacket” |
sku | “686f-jacket” |
name | “686 Foundation jacket” |
url | |
imageUrl | |
price | 69.97 |
currency | Currency code, for example, “USD” |
categories | Array/string, for example, ["Men's Clothing", "Jackets", "Foundation"] |
If variants are selectable without page reload, fire another productBrowse with updated variantId and variants (array of variant objects).
2. Identify the visitor if they enter contact information
Call: window.ddg.identify()
Required:
email or
mobileNumber
If captured firstName, lastName or fullName can all be passed as well.
Identifying the visitor is required to trigger an abandoned browse send. However, even without identifying the visitor, any session data is stored against an anonymous record in Personalization. This data will still be usable to personalize future website visits.
You can also include optional product fields, for example salePrice, description, brand.
Any additional data you want to track outside of our defined schema can be tracked as extraData.
Don’t send cart updates unless a product is actually added to the cart.
Visitor receives abandoned browse/cart email, returns to site and adds to cart
Why it matters
Visitors who click through from an email are automatically identified, so the hard part of scenario 1 is already done. The job now is to capture cart activity accurately, so that if they leave again without buying you can send an abandoned cart message based on what's really in their basket.
ddg.cartUpdate is critical here: without it, abandoned cart messaging, triggers, and segmentation aren't available. Make the call every time the cart changes, and keep the same cartId throughout the session so the cart, checkout, and order stay tied together.
Data to track
1. Visitor identification
Visitors are automatically identified on email click through. If our cookies are still in place, the visitor can also be tied back to their record in Personalization.
To ensure that we attribute browsing sessions as often as possible, you should call the identify method to provide contact details for the visitor whenever you have them.
Call: window.ddg.identify()
Required:
email or
mobileNumber
2. Track the product detail view
Call: window.ddg.productBrowse()
Attribute | Description or example |
Id | Unique string ID for the product, for example, “686-foundation-jacket” |
sku | “686f-jacket” |
name | “686 Foundation jacket” |
url | |
imageUrl | |
price | 69.97 |
currency | Currency code, for example, “USD” |
categories | Array/string, for example, ["Men's Clothing", "Jackets", "Foundation"] |
If variant selected:
variantId
variants
3. Track cart updates when an item is added
Call: window.ddg.cartUpdate()
Required attributes:
Attribute | Description or example |
cartId | Unique string for the cart, this should be the same throughout the shopping/browsing session |
currency | Currency code in ISO 4217 format. Example, USD |
subtotal | Subtotal cart price before taxes, shipping, discounts, etc. |
grandtotal | Grand total of cart including taxes, shipping, discounts, etc. |
cartUrl | |
products | Array of cart product objects, this includes the following for each product:
|
Recommended attributes:
cartPhase (for example, "ORDER_PENDING")
This is automatically tracked by the Dotdigital Tag if not specified.
You can also include optional cart or product fields such as shipping or discountAmount.
You must update cart info every time cart contents change.
You can track additional custom attributes with
extraData.No
purchaseCompleteevent is recorded unless checkout is finalized.
Visitor receives abandoned cart campaign and completes their purchase
Why it matters
ddg.checkout tells the platform the visitor has moved from building a cart to checking out, so you can treat someone who entered shipping details a minute ago differently from someone who added an item three days ago.
ddg.purchaseComplete finalises the purchase cycle: it updates the cart phase so the visitor drops out of abandoned cart and abandoned browse messaging, and it records the order for recommendations and segmentation. Only fire it once the order is actually confirmed.
Data to track
Visitors are automatically identified on email click through, but, wherever possible, you should send the visitor's identifying information.
1. Visitor identification
Call: window.ddg.identify()
Required:
email or
mobileNumber
2. Track cart view
Call: window.ddg.cart() for cart views, window.ddg.cartupdate for changes to a cart
Required attributes:
cartId, currency, products (each with Id, sku, name)
You can also include optional cart/product fields such as subtotal, discountAmount.
3. Track start of checkout
Call: window.ddg.checkout()
Required attributes:
"ORDER_CHECKOUT" cart phase is set automatically.
Attribute | Description or example |
cartId | Unique string for the cart. If the cart is the same, then this should match the cartId used for previous cartUpdate calls. |
currency | Currency code in ISO 4217 format. Example, USD |
subtotal | Subtotal cart price before taxes, shipping, discounts, etc. |
grandtotal | Grand total of cart including taxes, shipping, discounts, etc. |
cartUrl | |
products | Array of cart product objects, this includes the following for each product:
|
4. Track completed purchase
Call: window.ddg.purchaseComplete()
Required attributes:
"ORDER_COMPLETE" cart phase is set automatically.
Attribute | Description or example |
cartId | Unique string for the cart. If the cart is the same, then this should match the cartId used for previous ddg.cartUpdate and ddg.checkout calls |
orderId | Unique string for the order. |
currency | Currency code in ISO 4217 format. Example, USD |
subtotal | Subtotal cart price before taxes, shipping, discounts, etc. |
grandtotal | Grand total of cart including taxes, shipping, discounts, etc. |
cartUrl | |
products | Array of cart product objects, this includes the following for each product:
|
optcan be used to provide product-level extra data, such as customisations or inscriptions.You can track additional custom attributes relating to a cart, like a coupon code, through the use of
extraData.You must only call
purchaseCompleteafter order payment/confirmation.You must use the same
cartIdthroughout a user session.