Tracking products with the data layer

warning

This guide is for developers who want to set up data tracking using the default data layer events supported by the Frosmo Platform. If your site has or is getting a basic feature setup from Frosmo, see the appropriate site preparation guide instead. Basic feature setups rely on their own dedicated data layer events.

note

To use the data layer on a site, the data layer module must be enabled for the site.

For an introduction to product tracking in the Frosmo Platform, see Data tracking solutions.

Tracking products with the data layer means triggering a product view event whenever a visitor navigates to a product page or otherwise views a product on a site. The data you pass in the product view event is the product data for the viewed product.

info

On iGaming sites, a product view is called "game open" and a product view event is therefore "game open event".

You can trigger product view events from:

• Page code (meaning directly from the site source code)

• Shared code

Page code is the recommended solution. If you cannot use the data layer in your page code, use shared code.

Figure: Tracking products by triggering a product view event from a page

When you trigger a product view event, how the Frosmo Platform handles the event and the products defined in the event data depends on the event's mode setting:

• mode: 'set':

  • If a product is not in the product database, the platform adds the product to the database. The platform uses the product ID to uniquely identify the product.

  • If a product is already in the product database, and if the event data differs from the product data in the database, the platform updates the data in the database. The platform only updates product attributes whose values differ and adds attributes that do not already exist in the database. The platform does not remove existing product attributes that are missing from the event data.

  • If a product is already in the product database, and if the event data does not differ from the product data in the database, the platform ignores the event data.

  • The platform does not increment the view count for the product.

• mode: 'setView' (default):

  • If a product is not in the product database, the platform adds the product to the database. The platform uses the product ID to uniquely identify the product.

  • If a product is already in the product database, and if the event data differs from the product data in the database, the platform updates the data in the database. The platform only updates product attributes whose values differ and adds attributes that do not already exist in the database. The platform does not remove existing product attributes that are missing from the event data.

  • If a product is already in the product database, and if the event data does not differ from the product data in the database, the platform ignores the event data.

  • The platform increments the view count for the product by one.

• mode: 'view':

  • The platform does not save any data to the product database. Whether or not a product is already in the database, the platform neither adds nor updates the product data.

  • The platform increments the view count for the product by one. Even if a product is not in the product database, the platform adds a view for the product ID in product statistics.

To verify that the tracked product data is correctly stored in the Frosmo back end, view the product data in the Frosmo Control Panel.

Triggering product view events

To trigger a product view event, call the dataLayer.push() function with the following object:

dataLayer.push({
    frosmo: {
        view: {
            products: [{
                /* Standard attributes */
                id: '<product_id>',
                availability: '<product_availability>',
                brand: '<product_brand>',
                image: '<product_image_url>',
                name: '<product_name>',
                originalPrice: '<product_original_price>',
                parentId: '<parent_product_id>',
                price: '<product_current_price>',
                type: '<product_type>',
                url: '<product_page_url>',

                /* Custom attributes */
                /* ... */
            }],
            /* Optional */
            mode: 'set|setView|view'
        }
    }
});

The frosmo.view object contains the event data.

view object

The view object contains the data of a single product view event.

view object properties

Property	Description	Type	Role
products	List of viewed products. Define each product as a product object. You must define at least one product. If the list is empty, the platform ignores the event.	Array of product objects	Required
mode	Set how the Frosmo Platform treats the event and event data. The possible values are: set: Save the product data, but do not register views for the products. The event has no effect on features that rely on product views. For example, the event does not impact affinity tracking or recommendations. setView: Save the product data, and register a view for each product. view: Register a view for each product, but do not save the product data. The default value is setView. note If the site's product data comes exclusively from a product data feed, always set this to view.	String	Optional

Product object

The product object contains the data (attributes) for a single product. You can define standard attributes and custom attributes for a product.

The Frosmo Platform automatically trims string values by removing opening and ending white spaces. Empty string values are valid for all string attributes except id.

Standard attributes

To get the most out of the Frosmo Platform, include as many optional standard attributes in your product data as possible.

Product object properties (standard attributes)

Property	Description	Type	Role
id	Product ID. note The value must be a non-empty string.	String (256)	Required
availability	Product availability in the web store. The possible values are: in stock out of stock preorder If you provide a value other than one of those listed, the data layer push fails, and no product data is updated.	String	Optional
availableOn	Date and time when the product becomes or has become available to visitors, for example, for purchase. This property typically indicates how new the product is to the site.	Datetime string (ISO 8601)	Optional
brand	Brand name for the product, or the company that produces the product.	String (2048)	Optional
categories	Categories to which the product belongs. This can also be keywords, tags, types, or any other set of classifiers used on the site. You can define a hierarchy of parent and child categories as a breadcrumb using / as the separator. For example: Electronics/Televisions/OLED Electronics/Televisions/OLED/4K Electronics/Televisions/Smart The maximum stringified length for the array is 2048 characters. note If you only need to define a single category for a product, use the type attribute instead. Use either categories or type for all products on the site.	Array of strings (2048)	Optional
image	Product image URL. note Even if you do not have a value for this property, it is recommended that you nonetheless pass an empty string.	String (2048)	Optional
name	Product name. note Even if you do not have a value for this property, it is recommended that you nonetheless pass an empty string.	String (256)	Optional
originalPrice	Original unit price for the product. Use this property for the original starting price before any discounts.	Number	Optional
parentId	ID of the parent product, if the current product is a product variant. If your site has a product feed that provides the baseline product data to the Frosmo Platform, you can omit this parameter or set it to null. The feed data contains the necessary information about parents and variants, so the database entry for the current product already includes the parent ID, assuming the product is a variant. If your site does not have a product data feed, and if you know the ID of the parent product, use this property to define the current product as a variant of the parent. note If the parent product does not exist in the database, the platform ignores the product view event. note Do not define this property if the product is itself a parent product. Parent products cannot have parents, and product variants cannot have variants. note If you define a parent product ID that differs from the one already stored for this product in the database, the new ID overwrites the existing ID. For recommendation generation purposes, the platform calculates product variant statistics (views, conversions, transactions) for the parent product. Recommendations only return parent products (as they contain the combined statistics for a product).	String (256)	Optional
price	Current unit price for the product, such as a discount price. note Even if you do not have a value for this property, it is recommended that you nonetheless pass an empty string.	Number	Optional
type	Product category. This can also be a keyword, tag, type, or any other form of classification used on the site. Define a hierarchy of parent and child categories as a breadcrumb using / as the separator. For example: Electronics/Televisions/OLED note Even if you do not have a value for this property, it is recommended that you nonetheless pass an empty string. This property can be used in segmentation rules and therefore needs to have a value. note If you need to define multiple categories for a product, use the categories attribute instead, and set this attribute to an empty string. Use either categories or type for all products on the site.	String (256)	Optional
url	Product page URL. note Even if you do not have a value for this property, it is recommended that you nonetheless pass an empty string.	String (2048)	Optional

Custom attributes

If the standard attributes are not sufficient to track your product data, define the necessary custom attributes to complement the standard ones. You can freely define as many custom attributes as you need for your products.

A custom attribute must meet the following requirements:

• The attribute name must be a string with a length of 1-32 characters. If the name is empty or longer than 32 characters, the platform ignores the product.

  note

  The platform automatically trims leading and trailing spaces from the attribute name. The platform validates the length of the trimmed name.

• The attribute name cannot be any of the following:

  • created_at

  • feed_updated_at

  • updated_at

  These names are reserved for read-only attributes that the platform automatically creates and updates for a product. If you include any of these attributes in the product object, the platform ignores the entire product view event.

• The data type of the attribute value must be one of the following:

  • Array

  • Boolean

  • Datetime string (ISO 8601)

  • Number

  • Object

  • String

• The attribute value can also be null.

• The maximum length of the attribute value is 2048 characters. If the value is an array or object, the length is the JSON-stringified length of the array or object.

If the custom attribute is an object, the object properties can be anything you want them to be. The Frosmo Platform does not validate the properties against any data model or schema.

note

You cannot filter recommendation data by object properties. If you want to use a custom attribute for filtering recommendations, use one of the other supported data types.

Product view examples

Retail

Example: Retail product with standard attributes (single category)

dataLayer.push({
    frosmo: {
        view: {
            products: [{
                id: '123',
                availability: 'in stock',
                brand: 'Mr. Fruit',
                image: 'https://shop.company.com/images/products/product-123.png',
                name: 'Coconut',
                originalPrice: 5.00,
                price: 3.00,
                type: 'Food/Fruits',
                url: 'https://shop.company.com/products/123'
            }]
        }
    }
});

Example: Retail product with standard attributes (multiple categories)

dataLayer.push({
    frosmo: {
        view: {
            products: [{
                id: '678',
                availability: 'in stock',
                brand: 'Veggieman',
                categories: [
                    'Food/Fruits',
                    'Food/Vegetables'
                ],
                image: 'https://shop.company.com/images/products/product-678.png',
                name: 'Tomato',
                originalPrice: 1.00,
                price: 1.00,
                type: '',
                url: 'https://shop.company.com/products/678'
            }]
        }
    }
});

Example: Retail product with standard and custom attributes

dataLayer.push({
    frosmo: {
        view: {
            products: [{
                id: '345',
                availability: 'in stock',
                brand: 'Wakita',
                image: 'https://shop.company.com/images/products/product-1.jpg',
                name: 'Electric Planer Brandix KL370090G 300 Watts',
                originalPrice: 749.00,
                price: 509.32,
                type: 'Power Tools/Woodworking',
                url: 'https://shop.company.com/products/345',

                /* Custom attributes */
                badges: [
                    'new',
                    'sale'
                ],
                features: [
                    {
                        name: 'Battery capacity',
                        value: '2 A-h'
                    },
                    {
                        name: 'Battery type',
                        value: 'Li-ion'
                    },
                    {
                        name: 'Battery voltage',
                        value: '20 V'
                    },
                    {
                        name: 'Electric motor type',
                        value: 'Brushless DC'
                    },
                    {
                        name: 'Speed',
                        value: '750 RPM'
                    }
                ],
                stock: 100
            }]
        }
    }
});

Example: Retail product with variants

/* Parent product */
dataLayer.push({
    frosmo: {
        view: {
            products: [{
                id: '1001',
                availability: 'in stock',
                brand: 'Lumberland',
                image: 'https://shop.company.com/images/products/product-1001.png',
                name: 'Casual Engineer Boots',
                originalPrice: 350.00,
                price: 290.00,
                type: 'Fashion/Shoes',
                url: 'https://shop.company.com/products/1001',
                color: 'Black'
            }]
        }
    }
});

/* Product variant 1 */
dataLayer.push({
    frosmo: {
        view: {
            products: [{
                id: '1002',
                availability: 'in stock',
                brand: 'Lumberland',
                image: 'https://shop.company.com/images/products/product-1002.png',
                name: 'Casual Engineer Boots',
                originalPrice: 350.00,
                parentId: '1001',
                price: 290.00,
                type: 'Fashion/Shoes',
                url: 'https://shop.company.com/products/1002',
                color: 'Brown'
            }]
        }
    }
});

/* Product variant 2 */
dataLayer.push({
    frosmo: {
        view: {
            products: [{
                id: '1003',
                availability: 'in stock',
                brand: 'Lumberland',
                image: 'https://shop.company.com/images/products/product-1003.png',
                name: 'Casual Engineer Boots',
                originalPrice: 350.00,
                parentId: '1001',
                price: 290.00,
                type: 'Fashion/Shoes',
                url: 'https://shop.company.com/products/1003',
                color: 'White'
            }]
        }
    }
});

Example: Save the product data, but do not register a product view

dataLayer.push({
    frosmo: {
        view: {
            products: [{
                id: '123',
                availability: 'in stock',
                brand: 'Mr. Fruit',
                image: 'https://shop.company.com/images/products/product-123.png',
                name: 'Coconut',
                originalPrice: 5.00,
                price: 3.00,
                type: 'Food/Fruits',
                url: 'https://shop.company.com/products/123'
            }],
            mode: 'set'
        }
    }
});

iGaming

Example: Casino game with standard attributes (single category)

dataLayer.push({
    frosmo: {
        view: {
            products: [{
                id: '321',
                brand: 'Microgaming',
                image: 'https://casino.com/images/games/agent-jane-blonde-returns.png',
                name: 'Agent Jane Blonde Returns',
                type: 'Slots/Themed',
                url: 'https://casino.com/games/agent-jane-blonde-returns/launch'
            }]
        }
    }
});

Example: Casino game with standard attributes (multiple categories)

dataLayer.push({
    frosmo: {
        view: {
            products: [{
                id: '321',
                brand: 'Microgaming',
                categories: [
                    'Jackpots/Slot Jackpots',
                    'Slots/Themed'
                ],
                image: 'https://casino.com/images/games/agent-jane-blonde-returns.png',
                name: 'Agent Jane Blonde Returns',
                type: '',
                url: 'https://casino.com/games/agent-jane-blonde-returns/launch'
            }]
        }
    }
});

Example: Casino game with standard and custom attributes

dataLayer.push({
    frosmo: {
        view: {
            products: [{
                /* Standard attributes */
                id: '321',
                brand: 'Microgaming',
                image: 'https://casino.com/images/games/agent-jane-blonde-returns.png',
                name: 'Agent Jane Blonde Returns',
                type: 'Slots/Themed',
                url: 'https://casino.com/games/agent-jane-blonde-returns/launch',

                /* Custom attributes */
                badges: [
                    'new'
                ],
                features: [
                    'respins',
                    'wilds'
                ],
                paylines: 15,
                reels: 5,
                rtp: 96.5,
                volatility: 'low'
            }]
        }
    }
});

Testing product tracking

For instructions on how to test that products are correctly tracked on a site, see Testing data tracking.

Triggering product view events (deprecated method)

warning

Do not use this method if you are preparing a site for integration with the Frosmo Platform.

This section documents the legacy method for tracking products with the data layer. This method is officially deprecated, and the documentation is no longer maintained. If your site still uses this method, it is recommended that you migrate to the current solution. Contact Frosmo support to discuss the migration.

To trigger a product view event, call the dataLayer.push() function with a product object containing the product data:

dataLayer.push({
    frosmoProductId: 'string',
    /* Optional */
    frosmoProductCategory: 'string',
    frosmoProductData: {},
    frosmoProductDiscountPrice: 0,
    frosmoProductImage: 'string',
    frosmoProductName: 'string',
    frosmoProductPrice: 0,
    frosmoProductPromotionLabel: 'string',
    frosmoProductUrl: 'string'
    /* ... */
});

Product object (deprecated)

The product object contains the data (attributes) for a single product.

Product object properties

Property	Description	Type	Role
frosmoProductId	Product ID. The Frosmo Platform uses the product ID to uniquely identify the product.	String (256)	Required
frosmoProductArea	Geographical region, typically a part of a country, that applies to the product in some way. For example, if the product is a hotel room, this property can provide the name of the in-country region in which the hotel is located: frosmoProductCountry: Greece frosmoProductArea: Rhodes frosmoProductCity: Lindos	String (32)	Optional
frosmoProductCampaign	Sales or other campaign with which the product is associated.	String (32)	Optional
frosmoProductCategories	Additional product categories to which the product belongs. For more information about the object type, see the instructions below this table.	One of: Array of strings Stringified array of strings (1024) Object Stringified object (1024)	Optional
frosmoProductCategory	Product category or type. info Even if you do not have a value for this property, it is recommended that you nonetheless pass an empty string. This property can be used in segmentation rules and therefore needs to have some value.	String (256)	Optional
frosmoProductCity	City or town that applies to the product in some way. For example, if the product is a hotel room, this property provides the name of the city or town in which the hotel is located: frosmoProductCountry: Greece frosmoProductArea: Rhodes frosmoProductCity: Lindos	String (32)	Optional
frosmoProductColors	Color options for the product. For more information about the object type, see the instructions below this table.	One of: Object Stringified object (1024)	Optional
frosmoProductCompany	Company that offers the product.	String (32)	Optional
frosmoProductConversion	If you want to merely send the product data to the Frosmo back end without triggering a product view event, set this property to 1. In this case, the Frosmo Platform does not increment the view count for the product, but instead just stores the product data. The default value is 0, which means that the Frosmo Platform also registers the product data push as a product view. note Despite the name, this property does not trigger a conversion event for the product, regardless of the property value. If you want to register a conversion for the product, trigger a conversion event or transaction event instead.	Number	Optional
frosmoProductCountry	Country that applies to the product in some way. For example, if the product is a hotel room, this property provides the name of the country in which the hotel is located: frosmoProductCountry: Greece frosmoProductArea: Rhodes frosmoProductCity: Lindos	String (32)	Optional
frosmoProductCustomImages	URLs of additional product images. For more information about the object type, see the instructions below this table.	One of: Object Stringified object (2048)	Optional
frosmoProductData	Any piece of product data that does not logically belong to the other product properties but that you want to push with the product data. Use this property to send your own custom product attributes along with the product data. For more information about the object type, see the instructions below this table.	One of: Object Stringified object (2048)	Optional
frosmoProductDescription	Product description.	String (512)	Optional
frosmoProductDiscountPrice	Discount unit price for the product.	String (32)	Optional
frosmoProductIds	Additional product IDs. For example, if the product consists of multiple child products, you can add their IDs to this property. For more information about the object type, see the instructions below this table.	One of: Object Stringified object (1024)	Optional
frosmoProductImage	Product image URL. info Even if you do not have a value for this property, it is recommended that you nonetheless pass an empty string.	String (512)	Optional
frosmoProductMainCategory	Main product category to which the product belongs.	String (128)	Optional
frosmoProductManufacturer	Company that produces the product, or the brand name for the product.	String (512)	Optional
frosmoProductModel	Product model name.	String (32)	Optional
frosmoProductMultiPrices	Additional unit price options for the product. For more information about the object type, see the instructions below this table.	One of: Object Stringified object (2048)	Optional
frosmoProductName	Product name. info Even if you do not have a value for this property, it is recommended that you nonetheless pass an empty string.	String (256)	Optional
frosmoProductPrice	Unit price for the product. info Even if you do not have a value for this property, it is recommended that you nonetheless pass an empty string.	String (32)	Optional
frosmoProductPromotionLabel	Promotion-related label, such as "Weekend Sale" or "80% off!". note This property is intended for promotion-related label strings. Do not use this property for stringified objects. If you need to store extra product data beyond the standard product data properties listed here, use the frosmoProductData property.	String (512)	Optional
frosmoProductRating	Product rating.	String (512)	Optional
frosmoProductStock	Number of product units in stock.	Number	Optional
frosmoProductSubCategory	Subcategory to which the product belongs. The subcategory should be a child category of the main product category. For example, if the main product category is "Children", the subcategory could be "Clothes" or "Toys".	String (128)	Optional
frosmoProductUrl	Product page URL. info Even if you do not have a value for this property, it is recommended that you nonetheless pass an empty string.	String (512)	Optional
frosmoProductUrn	Uniform Resource Names (URN) for the product.	String (32)	Optional
frosmoProductVenue	Venue in which the product is available. For example, if the product is a specific showing of a movie, this property would be the movie theater in which the movie is shown.	String (64)	Optional

Objects

Follow these rules for product object properties whose type is object:

• The value can be either a JavaScript object or a JSON-stringified object. In the latter case, the maximum length of the string is either 1024 or 2048 characters, depending on the property (see above).

• The properties of the object can be anything you want them to be. The Frosmo Platform does not validate the properties against any data model or schema.

If you assign a JavaScript object to a product object property, the Frosmo Platform stringifies the value. If you assign a stringified object to a property, the platform stores the value as-is.

Product object examples (deprecated)

Retail

Example: Triggering a product view event with a simple product object

dataLayer.push({
    frosmoProductId: '123456',
    frosmoProductCategory: 'Plushies',
    frosmoProductDiscountPrice: 9.99,
    frosmoProductImage: '/images/cheetah_plushy.png',
    frosmoProductName: 'Cheetah Plushy',
    frosmoProductPrice: 19.99,
    frosmoProductPromotionLabel: 'Weekend Sale',
    frosmoProductUrl: '/products/123456'
});

Example: Triggering a product view event with a product object containing an object property

/* frosmoProductColors is a JavaScript object */

dataLayer.push({
    frosmoProductId: '123456',
    frosmoProductCategory: 'Plushies',
    frosmoProductDiscountPrice: 9.99,
    frosmoProductImage: '/images/cheetah_plushy.png',
    frosmoProductName: 'Cheetah Plushy',
    frosmoProductPrice: 19.99,
    frosmoProductPromotionLabel: 'Weekend Sale',
    frosmoProductUrl: '/products/123456',
    frosmoProductColors: {
        black: '#000000',
        blue: '#0000ff',
        lime: '#00ff00',
        red: '#ff0000'
    }
});

/* frosmoProductColors is a JSON-stringified object */

dataLayer.push({
    frosmoProductId: '123456',
    frosmoProductCategory: 'Plushies',
    frosmoProductDiscountPrice: 9.99,
    frosmoProductImage: '/images/cheetah_plushy.png',
    frosmoProductName: 'Cheetah Plushy',
    frosmoProductPrice: 19.99,
    frosmoProductPromotionLabel: 'Weekend Sale',
    frosmoProductUrl: '/products/123456',
    frosmoProductColors: '{"black":"#000000","blue":"#0000ff","lime":"#00ff00","red":"#ff0000"}'
});

Example: Triggering a product view event with minimal data and without incrementing the view count for the product

dataLayer.push({
    frosmoProductId: '123456',
    frosmoProductConversion: 1
});

Example: Triggering a product view event with multiple product categories for recommendation filtering

dataLayer.push({
    frosmoProductId: '234567',
    frosmoProductCategory: '',
    frosmoProductCategories: [
        'Accessories',
        'Bedding',
        'Toys'
    ],
    frosmoProductImage: '/images/cheetah_pillow.png',
    frosmoProductName: 'Cheetah Pillow',
    frosmoProductPrice: 29.99,
    frosmoProductUrl: '/products/234567'
});

iGaming

Example: Triggering a product view event where the product is a bet on a sporting event

dataLayer.push({
    frosmoProductId: 'bet-1234567', // Bet Id
    frosmoProductCategory: 'Football/Germany/Bundesliga', // Combination of main event information
    frosmoProductCountry: 'Germany',
    frosmoProductData: {
        date: '2020-06-12 21:30:00'
    },
    frosmoProductMainCategory: 'Football', // Event category (here, sport name)
    frosmoProductModel: 'Live', // Event type
    frosmoProductName: 'TSG Hoffenheim - RB Leipzig', // Event name
    frosmoProductUrl: '/event/1006388033', // Event URL
    frosmoProductVenue: 'Bundesliga' // Event venue (here, sports league)
});