Why does this metric look deceptively simple?

“Average purchases per user” sounds trivial. I thought so too — until numbers started doubling and no one could explain why.

What usually breaks the calculation?

GA4 events don’t protect you from mistakes

  • Orders get duplicated
  • Sessions get mixed with users
  • One user looks like ten customers

If you count purchases directly, you’re already in trouble. What GA4 export really requires?

You must first restore reality:

  • One purchase = one transaction_id
  • One user = one buyer, no matter how many sessions

Only after that does averaging make sense.

My rule of thumb - two steps, always.

  • Count purchases per user
  • Then average across users

Anything else is just creative math.

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