Mastering Dynamic Remarketing for BigCommerce: A Complete Guide Using Google Ads + GTM

Dynamic remarketing is a powerful way to bring back lost visitors by showing them personalized ads based on the products they viewed on your site. For BigCommerce merchants, implementing dynamic remarketing using Google Ads and Google Tag Manager (GTM) can help boost ROAS, increase conversions, and create tailored ad experiences at scale.

I’ll walk through an advanced implementation of dynamic remarketing including:

• ✅ Setting up your product feed
• ✅ Linking your BigCommerce store with Google Merchant Center
• ✅ Configuring Google Ads dynamic remarketing
• ✅ Implementing dynamic remarketing tags via GTM
• ✅ Sample data layer & tag configuration

🧩 Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:

• A BigCommerce store
• A Google Merchant Center account
• A Google Ads account
• A Google Tag Manager container installed on your BigCommerce site
• A published product feed in Merchant Center

🛍️ Step 1: Set Up Product Feed in Google Merchant Center

BigCommerce provides a native way to export product data to Google Merchant Center via Google Channel. You can find this under:

Channel Manager → Google Channel → Connect

Follow the steps to sync your product feed.

Ensure your items have:

• A unique Item ID (usually the product SKU or ID)
• Price and availability
• Properly categorized into Google’s taxonomy

📲 Step 2: Enable Dynamic Remarketing in Google Ads

1. Go to Tools & Settings → Shared Library → Audience Manager → Segments.
2. Choose “Website visitors” and click + to add a new remarketing audience.
3. Enable Dynamic Remarketing in your Google Ads settings:

• Tools & Settings → Setup → Linked accounts → Google Merchant Center
• Link your Merchant Center account to your Ads account.

Then, define your business type (for BigCommerce stores, this will likely be Retail).

🧱 Step 3: Configure GTM with Custom Data Layer

We now need to push dynamic values (product ID, page type, value, etc.) to the GTM data layer. GTM will read this data and send it to Google Ads.

Here's a sample dataLayer snippet you might insert in the HTML of key BigCommerce templates:

✅ Product Page Example:

<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
window.dataLayer.push({
  'event': 'view_item',
  'ecomm_pagetype': 'product',
  'ecomm_prodid': '1234',
  'ecomm_totalvalue': 998.55,
  'items': [
    {
      'id': 1234,
      'google_business_vertical': 'retail'
    }
  ]
});
</script>        

✅ Cart Page Example:

<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
window.dataLayer.push({
  'event': 'view_cart',
  'ecomm_pagetype': 'cart',
  'ecomm_totalvalue': 998.55,
  'items': [
    {
      'id': 1234,
      'google_business_vertical': 'retail'
    },
    {
      'id': 45678,
      'google_business_vertical': 'retail'
    }
  ]
});
</script>        

✅ Purchase (Order Confirmation) Page Example:

<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
window.dataLayer.push({
  'event': 'purchase',
  'ecomm_pagetype': 'purchase',
  'ecomm_totalvalue': 998.55,
  'items': [
    {
      'id': 1234,
      'google_business_vertical': 'retail'
    },
    {
      'id': 45678,
      'google_business_vertical': 'retail'
    }
  ]
});
</script>
        

You can dynamically populate these values using BigCommerce's Stencil template language ({{ product.id }}, {{ cart.items }}, etc.)

🏷️ Step 4: Configure Google Ads Remarketing Tag in GTM

1. Create Google Ads Remarketing Tag:

• Go to Tags → New → Tag Configuration
• Choose Google Ads Remarketing
• Input your Conversion ID from Google Ads
• Enable “Use data layer” for dynamic remarketing values

2. Configure the Tag:

• Trigger: Use a Custom Event trigger that matches your event name from the data layer (e.g., view_item, view_cart, purchase)
• Fields to Set (optional): You can pass custom parameters such as ecomm_prodid, ecomm_totalvalue, and ecomm_pagetype for better segmentation.

Example Tag Configuration:

DLV = Data Layer Variable

Make sure you create these variables in GTM first under Variables → New → Data Layer Variable.

✅ Test Your Setup

1. Use Google Tag Assistant or Preview Mode in GTM to test whether the right events and data are firing on:

• Product pages
• Cart page
• Checkout thank you page

Check Google Ads → Audience Sources to confirm tag data is being received.

📊 Bonus: Audience Segmentation Ideas

Once your tag is live, build custom audiences such as:

• Users who viewed a product but didn’t purchase
• Cart abandoners
• Purchasers of specific product categories

Use these to create Dynamic Ads in Google Ads → Campaigns → Display → New Dynamic Remarketing campaign.

🧠 Final Thoughts

Implementing Dynamic Remarketing with BigCommerce, Google Ads, and GTM offers granular control and immense value. With the setup outlined above, you're sending high-quality product interaction data to Google Ads, ready to power personalized ad campaigns that convert.

Proper testing, dynamic variable mapping, and consistent product feed hygiene are keys to success.

📁 Sample Data Layer Snippet (Full):

{
  'event': 'purchase',
  'ecomm_pagetype': 'purchase',
  'ecomm_totalvalue': 998.55,
  'items': [
    {
      'id': 1234,
      'google_business_vertical': 'retail'
    },
    {
      'id': 45678,
      'google_business_vertical': 'retail'
    }
  ]
}        

I’m passionate about empowering organizations with data-driven decision-making while respecting user privacy.

Here’s how you can connect with me or view my work:

Upwork Profile: Upwork

Freelancer Profile: Freelancer

My Blog on GTM & Website Analytics: Google Tag Manager Solution

If you or someone in your network is looking for an experienced professional in this space, I’d love to connect and chat further!