---
title: "User Segmentation"
description: "Segment users by including business attributes in your conversion and microconversion properties."
canonical_url: "https://docs.sealmetrics.com/implementation/custom-properties/user-properties"
lang: "en"
date_generated: "2026-10-08T17:47:47.862Z"
source_hash: "83b4991672c446ab9559a6e44cef6e2fa385bafd207e94543267d9561244d621"
content_type: "implementation"
owner: "engineering"
llm_priority: "critical"
source_file: "implementation/custom-properties/user-properties.mdx"
publisher: "Sealmetrics"
---

# User Segmentation

Canonical page: https://docs.sealmetrics.com/implementation/custom-properties/user-properties

Sealmetrics is privacy-first and does not use cookies, localStorage, or persistent user identification. However, you can still segment users effectively by including business attributes in your event properties.

## How It Works

Include user-related attributes as properties when tracking conversions and microconversions. This lets you analyze behavior by user segment without storing any persistent user data.

```javascript
// Include user context in conversions
sealmetrics.conv('purchase', 149.99, {
  customer_type: 'premium',
  plan: 'pro',
  currency: 'EUR'
});

// Include user context in microconversions
sealmetrics.micro('feature_used', {
  feature_name: 'export',
  plan_type: 'pro',
  user_role: 'admin'
});
```

## Segmentation Examples

### SaaS Application

Include plan and account data with each event:

```javascript
// On feature usage
sealmetrics.micro('feature_used', {
  feature_name: 'export',
  plan_type: 'pro',
  billing_cycle: 'annual',
  company_size: '50-100',
  user_role: 'admin'
});

// On subscription purchase
sealmetrics.conv('subscription', 49, {
  plan: 'pro',
  billing_cycle: 'monthly',
  currency: 'USD',
  company_size: '50-100',
  industry: 'technology'
});
```

**Analysis enabled:**
- Feature adoption by plan type
- Revenue by company size
- Conversion rate by industry

### E-commerce

Include customer context with purchases:

```javascript
// Purchase with customer data
sealmetrics.conv('purchase', 149.99, {
  customer_type: 'returning',
  loyalty_tier: 'gold',
  payment_method: 'paypal',
  product_category: 'electronics',
  coupon: 'SAVE10'
});

// Add to cart with context
sealmetrics.micro('add_to_cart', {
  product_id: 'SKU-123',
  price: '149.99',
  category: 'electronics',
  customer_type: 'returning'
});
```

**Analysis enabled:**
- Revenue by customer type
- Conversion rate by loyalty tier
- Category preferences by segment

### Media/Subscription

```javascript
// Content engagement
sealmetrics.micro('article_read', {
  article_category: 'technology',
  author: 'jane-doe',
  subscriber_type: 'premium',
  word_count: '1500'
});

// Subscription conversion
sealmetrics.conv('subscription', 9.99, {
  plan: 'premium',
  billing_cycle: 'monthly',
  currency: 'EUR',
  referral_source: 'blog'
});
```

## Implementation Patterns

### Server-Rendered Pages

Inject user data from your backend into the tracking calls:

**PHP:**

```php
<script>
  window.addEventListener('load', function() {
    sealmetrics.conv('purchase', <?php echo $order->get_total(); ?>, {
      customer_type: '<?php echo $user->type; ?>',
      plan: '<?php echo $user->plan; ?>',
      currency: '<?php echo $order->get_currency(); ?>'
    });
  });
</script>
```

**Python (Jinja2):**

```html
<script>
  window.addEventListener('load', function() {
    sealmetrics.conv('purchase', {{ order.total }}, {
      customer_type: '{{ user.type }}',
      plan: '{{ user.plan }}',
      currency: '{{ order.currency }}'
    });
  });
</script>
```

### JavaScript Applications

Use your app's state to include user data:

```javascript
// From your app's user context
var user = getCurrentUser();

sealmetrics.micro('feature_used', {
  feature_name: 'export',
  plan_type: user.plan,
  user_role: user.role,
  company_size: user.companySize
});
```

### Data Attributes

Embed user data in HTML for use in event handlers:

```html
<button
  class="add-to-cart"
  data-product-id="SKU-123"
  data-customer-type="premium"
  onclick="trackAddToCart(this)"
>
  Add to Cart
</button>

<script>
  function trackAddToCart(btn) {
    sealmetrics.micro('add_to_cart', {
      product_id: btn.dataset.productId,
      customer_type: btn.dataset.customerType
    });
  }
</script>
```

## Privacy Considerations

### What NOT to Include

Never include personally identifiable information (PII) in properties:

```javascript
// Don't do this
sealmetrics.conv('purchase', 99.99, {
  email: 'john@example.com',      // PII
  phone: '+1234567890',           // PII
  full_name: 'John Smith',        // PII
  address: '123 Main St'          // PII
});

// Do this instead
sealmetrics.conv('purchase', 99.99, {
  email_domain: 'example.com',    // Domain only, not PII
  country: 'US',                  // General location
  customer_type: 'enterprise'     // Non-identifying segment
});
```

### Why No Persistent User IDs?

Sealmetrics is designed for privacy-first analytics:

- **No cookies** — No consent banner for its own analytics (self-assessed; Germany: open question)
- **No localStorage** — No persistent storage
- **No user identification** — Sessions use a hash of device characteristics that is re-keyed daily on the server, so nothing stored can link a device across days
- **Designed for GDPR** — No data that identifies anyone stored; reports are aggregated

This means you cannot track individual users across sessions. Instead, you analyze behavior by **segments** (properties) rather than individual users.

## Analyzing User Segments in Reports

User segment data appears in reports when you include it as properties:

```
Conversions by Customer Type
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

customer_type    Conversions    Revenue      AOV
──────────────────────────────────────────────────
premium               234      €46,800    €200
standard              567      €56,700    €100
free                   89       €4,450     €50
```

### How to Use

1. Go to any report
2. Add a filter or dimension using your property name (e.g., `customer_type`)
3. Break down metrics by segment

## Troubleshooting

### Segments Not Appearing in Reports

1. Ensure properties are being sent with events (inspect the DevTools Network request to `t.sealmetrics.com/event` and check the `x` key in the payload)
2. Confirm the hit arrived: the **Last hit** timestamp on the **Overview** report updates within seconds of a tracked visit — if it doesn't move, the event never arrived ([Data Delay](/troubleshooting/data-delay))
3. Verify property names match what you're filtering by

### Inconsistent Segments

1. Use consistent property values across all events (e.g., always `'premium'`, not sometimes `'Premium'`)
2. Standardize values before sending
3. Document your property taxonomy for your team