Introduction
 

Event Depth is a new standard dimension component introduced to Customer Journey Analytics (CJA) in May 2025. It gives CJA practitioners new ways to measure and better understand how events are positioned within bounded experience sessions. The Event Depth dimension enables detailed tracking and analysis of where specific events occur in the sequential flow of user interactions within a session. By revealing the precise positioning of events within the sequence of customer event interactions, this dimension empowers analysts to make clear distinctions between sessions demonstrating high levels of engagement and those showing minimal interaction patterns against collected events activity. Through this enhanced visibility into user behavior, analysts can effectively identify opportunities for optimization and leverage data-informed insights to make strategic improvements to the overall customer journey.

 

What is Event Depth?
 

Event Depth (component ID= adobe_event_depth) assigns a sequential number to each event-based interaction within a user session, tracking all events from start to finish in a bounded session. Event Depth sequentially counts each event within a CJA session, regardless of the event type. Here's how it works in a example commerce journey:

• A visitor lands on your homepage (Event Depth = 1, session start)

• Uses the search function (Event Depth = 2)

• Views a product details page (Event Depth = 3)

• Adds item to cart (Event Depth = 4)

• Proceeds to checkout (Event Depth = 5)

• Completes purchase (Event Depth = 6, session end)

This numbering system assigns each interaction a unique sequential integer value that precisely indicates its chronological position within the user session. By maintaining an ordered record of every event's placement in the interaction sequence, this systematic approach enables CJA analysts to conduct detailed analysis of user behavior patterns. The sequential values provide clear visibility into how users progress through their journey, making it possible to identify common pathways, analyze engagement depth patterns, and understand the typical progression of interactions that lead to desired outcomes.

The diagram below illustrates how Event Depth increments with each user interaction within a single session. Starting from the session start beginning (Event Depth = 1), each subsequent interaction increases the Event Depth by 1. The final session end Event Depth value equals the total number of events in the session (Event Depth = 6), providing a clear measure of engagement depth.

 

Lineage of Event Depth

Event Depth in CJA is the modern equivalent of Adobe Analytics' Hit Depth dimension, adapted for today's cross platform customer journey analysis. While Hit Depth in Adobe Analytics (AA) counts hits during digital experience visits at collection time with fixed sessions, Event Depth in CJA tracks all types of events both digital and offline across multiple platforms within a session determined at report time. This is particularly powerful as CJA sessions can be dynamically recalculated when new events are ingested, requiring possible re-computation of Event Depth values, unlike AA where sessions are fixed once ingested. This evolution reflects CJA's approach to customer journey analysis, expanding beyond mobile and web hits to encompass all platform and channel events. The key advancement lies in CJA's ability to track sequential event positioning across a broader range of touchpoints while maintaining the same effective incremental counting method that made Hit Depth valuable for understanding digital engagement patterns.

Event Depth Key Benefits

The Event Depth dimension offers several advancements for organizations seeking to enhance their understanding of customer behavior and optimize customer experiences. By providing precise sequential tracking of user interactions within sessions, this feature enables analysts to derive valuable insights that can directly impact business outcomes. Here are the key benefits of implementing Event Depth analysis:

• Analyze user engagement patterns by tracking when specific event interactions occur within sessions

• Identify optimal conversion paths by examining the typical event depth of successful transactions

• Segment data based on interaction depth for more focused analysis

• Compare behavior patterns across different customer segments

• Monitor drop-off points by analyzing where users typically exit their sessions in the event sequence

• Evaluate the effectiveness of navigation paths by studying event depth progression

• Optimize content placement and user experiences based on typical interaction patterns and sequence depth

• Identify potential user friction points by analyzing unusual event depth patterns