GA4 is good at one thing:
telling you “conversions are down 17%” and then going quiet.
You still do not know:
It does not tell you:
which kind of visitors dropped
what they were trying to do
what the site showed them
which visitors dropped
what they were trying to do
what the site showed them
where they stopped
In video, you will see:
GA4 showing a flat “-17% conversions” line
Pulse flagging the same drop in real time
each visitor getting an intent level based on live behavior
three bands: ready to buy, needs a nudge, low intent
two real people in the grid:
Joshua — strong focus on price, checks sale and low price items
Ryan — clear interest in sweaters, keeps leaning into that theme
Pulse tagging why they leave:
pricing friction for Joshua
wrong products on top of the grid for Ryan
the site view changing inside their own session:
Joshua now sees cheaper and discount items higher up
Ryan now sees sweaters at the top row
the console spelling out the leak:
“traffic and add-to-carts are fine, the drop is after cart”
So yes, this is a kind of like a product demo.
But the useful part is the way of thinking about a drop:
The simple order we use for any conversion drop
When you see a drop like “-17%”:
Look at real sessions, not only the rate
Pick a slice: main country, main device, main paid source.
Watch how real people move on the site in the bad window.Mark what “high intent” means for you
For your store, this could be:more than X views inside one product theme
adding to cart in the same visit
strong use of filters or search around one need
Write your rules down. Do not keep them vague.
Watch where only high intent people stall
For that group, ask:did they see the right type of product on top?
was the price level in line with their clicks?
did they fall off at grid, at cart, or at payment?
Change the view for that group first
You may not be able to sort the grid per person yet, but you can still:raise the right product theme in that ad set and on that landing page
show a clearer price step or offer for that traffic slice
fix one block between cart and payment
Check the same slice on the next peak day
Do not wait for a long report.
Re-check the same slice when traffic is high again and see if stall points moved.
If you cannot answer those three in one page, you don’t understand the drop yet.
The tool is secondary. The habit of breaking “-17%” into real people and real blocks is the part that separates good brands from everyone else.
