In a world where third-party cookies are crumbling, first-party data is your ecommerce brand's most valuable asset.

First-party data pertains to customer information collected through your brand's own channels or tools. This could be your website, mobile app, survey email, and so on.

There are three main reasons why first-party data is crucial for your ecommerce business:

• Third-party cookies are being phased out — With the deprecation of third-party cookies in 2025, first-party data will be your primary (if not your only) source of valuable customer information. 
• Consumers expect privacy and personalization — While modern customers demand online privacy, they also expect personalization in terms of marketing.
• Data-driven insights fuel better customer experiences and higher revenue — Tracking first-party data is a reliable way to analyze customer behavior and design experiences that will drive more conversions.

In this post, we'll unpack everything there is to know about first-party data — why it matters, how to collect it responsibly, and the many ways to harness firsthand customer information for business growth. 

You'll also learn about Nostra’s Identity Extension feature, which effectively brings useful customer information to your fingertips while maintaining compliance with stricter digital privacy regulations.

Let's get started.

What is First-Party Data?

In a nutshell, first-party data is any customer data collected through your own channels with their consent. 

If you use modern ecommerce platforms or marketing analytics tools, chances are you're already accumulating a sizable repository of first-party customer information. We're talking about:

• Browsing activity on your website
• Purchase history
• Email interactions
• Survey or quiz responses
• Previous customer service interactions
• Customer-submitted account details

First-party data has clear distinctions between third-party data and second-party data. 

Unlike data collected through your own channels, ecommerce businesses usually receive second-party data through partners and co-op data pools. Third-party data, on the other hand, is mostly siphoned from entities or software (like third-party cookies) that aren't directly tied to your business or your customers. 

First-party data directly addresses the problem of the "cookiepocalypse" — that is, the total deprecation of third-party cookies that collect user information for advertisers. 

Another key differentiator is that first-party data can only be gathered with the audience's express consent. It should also be collected in line with data privacy regulations, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Why First-Party Data Matters for Ecommerce

Before we get to the fine details of first-party data tracking, here's a quick rundown of why it deserves your attention:

Future-Proof Your Marketing

Third-party cookies may not be around for long, but that doesn't mean you should stop utilizing customer information to conduct personalized and hyper-targeted marketing. 

You may still have some time left before Google achieves complete third-party cookie deprecation for its Chrome browser. However, shifting your focus to first-party data ensures you'll never be in the dark when it comes to your marketing. 

Create Hyper-Personalized Experiences

According to McKinsey, 71% of consumers expect personalized brand interactions.

More importantly, 76% of them feel frustrated if companies fail to deliver. 

With third-party cookies out the door, first-party customer data is a necessity if meeting customer expectations is your priority. It holds the key to personalized marketing strategies like tailored product recommendations, preference-based content, and scheduled or conditional offers. 

Improve Advertising Efficiency

A lot of ecommerce businesses underestimate the potential of first-party data in digital advertising. 

First-party data is like a cheat code that reveals exactly who to target. It allows you to create lookalike audiences and launch smarter retargeting campaigns based on actual customers who interacted with your brand before. 

This lowers your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and boosts your ecommerce conversion rate.

And since you own this data, you can get consistent results regardless of the platform you use — be it on Google, Meta, X, or Amazon. 

Build Stronger Customer Relationships

Unlocking hyper-personalized marketing opportunities with first-party data not only leads to better conversions. 

The privacy and transparency aspects are also pivotal in winning your customers' trust. This fosters buyer confidence, which leads to customer loyalty and repeat business.

It all boils down to how you use first-party data to deliver refined and impactful experiences tailored to your customers.

Pro Tip: To guarantee the accuracy and quality of first-party data, you need a website that maintains consistent performance under all circumstances. Nostra’s Edge Delivery Engine minimizes the impact of confounding variables, such as latency and unexpected downtimes, on the quality of your first-party data by enabling reliable performance and maximizing engagement time.

How to Collect First-Party Data Effectively

Without further ado, here are the steps for building your own first-party data repository:

1. Optimize Your Website & Checkout Flow

Tracking customer data and optimizing the website experience go hand in hand. 

That's why modern ecommerce platforms like Shopify come with built-in customer behavior analytics. Just head to the 'Analytics' submenu, click 'Reports,' and you'll have access to data that reveals how the average user interacts with your store.

If you don't use Shopify (or you're looking for more advanced behavior tracking), consider using Google Tag Manager to track behavior metrics like scroll depth, clicks, and page views. Prioritize pages inside your checkout flow to get to the bottom of issues affecting conversions and cart abandonment.

Alternatively, you can invest in a paid platform like Hotjar to analyze user behavior using visual tools, like heatmaps, scroll maps, and session recordings.

Apart from visual tracking tools, Hotjar also comes with other features for gathering first-party data.

You can launch structured surveys, embed a quick feedback button, set up one-on-one interviews, and more.

These tools will help you understand the perception of your brand through the lens of consumers. More importantly, they generate first-party data that will stick around post-cookiepocalypse. 

Tip: Consider turnkey solutions like Nostra to get website performance issues out of the way and focus on storefront interactions, like CTA button clicks, page views, scrolls, and exits.

2. Use Email & SMS Engagement

Direct marketing channels, particularly email and SMS, are gateways to first-party data opportunities. 

Email list opt-in pages, for example, may include optional forms designed to gather valuable customer information, including their preferred communication channels, birthday, and their ideal product types.

In addition to the examples above, maintaining an email list also lets you collect first-party data such as:

• Gender
• Location & language preferences
• Email open rate
• Click-through rate
• Contact information 

Email marketing platforms like Mailchimp are also equipped to help you create automated surveys, detailed opt-in forms, and even pop-ups that gather more first-party information. They also help you do more with that data by creating customer segments and designing personalized marketing workflows.

To stimulate user participation, let customers know what they stand to gain. This may include freebies, webinar access, discounts, early access, and other exclusive offers.  

3. Loyalty Programs & Account Creation

Speaking of exclusive offers, another surefire way to amass first-party customer data is through loyalty programs and user accounts.

Put simply, you encourage customers to create store accounts in exchange for long-term rewards, personalized experiences, and other exclusive benefits. In return, they're required to fill in information to complete their profile, like their favorite product categories, re-ordering preferences, social media handles, content preferences, and more.

Sephora executes this perfectly by allowing customers to set their "beauty preferences" based on factors like skin type, skin tone, favorite brands, hair texture, and more.

4. Post-Purchase Data Capture

If your business has one reliable source of first-party data, it's none other than your existing customers.

These are the types of people you should be prioritizing in your marketing and experience optimization initiatives. And to understand them better, you need post-purchase data capture strategies, like:

• Sending feedback and review requests. You can do this by automating a review request email or redirecting new customers to a "Thank You" page with a feedback form.
• Tracking recurring purchases. Keep monitoring customers for repeat purchases and return visits to discover ways to maximize Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
• Monitor customer service interactions. Analyze customer service requests or support tickets to identify common customer concerns, potential reasons for returns, and other problems.

You can use direct marketing channels or invest in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform like Klaviyo or HubSpot to gather post-purchase data. Just be sure to exercise transparency and ensure compliance by following GDPR guidelines (i.e., requesting consent).

5. Use Edge Technologies for Identity Tracking

Modern edge networking solutions also explore innovations to help businesses learn more about their customers. 

Nostra, for example, offers an Identity Extension platform designed to bring third-party tracking data back to your first-party domain. This significantly extends the lifespan of tracking cookies, ensuring accurate attribution for omnichannel marketing funnels and new vs. returning visitors, while enabling true real-time personalization.

Enabling first party tracking and attribution is a huge advantage for ecommerce brands in a cookieless world – allowing brands to deliver truly dynamic and useful content experiences to their customers. 

Turning First-Party Data Into Revenue

Now that you know how to collect third-party data, the next step is learning how to put it to good use. 

Here are five must-know strategies you should start with:

• Upgrade your customer segmentation — Leverage first-party data to create more accurate customer profiles. 
• Implement automated personalization — Consider investing in platforms like Dynamic Yield, which can turn first-party customer data into hyper-personalized product recommendations. 
• Improve your remarketing efforts — Refine your retargeting strategy by integrating data from previous or existing customers, be it for remarketing advertising or "win-back" email campaigns. 
• Maximize CLV — Analyze your customers on a personal level to create optimized after-sales experiences that drive revenue. 
• Elevate your products — Use first-party feedback to address issues and research improvements that will take your product to the next level. 

Whatever you do, remember that personalization shouldn't come at the expense of website performance. 

There are plenty of existing solutions that will help any ecommerce business generate first-party data. Unfortunately, not all of them are developed with the preservation of website performance in mind. 

The good news is, you don't have to perform extensive backend optimizations to maintain consistent loading speeds, stability, and responsiveness while exploring personalization. 

With Nostra AI, even the most data-intensive experiences won't make a dent in your ecommerce website's performance. By tapping into a network of 310+ edge servers, customers from around the world can expect lightning-fast loading speeds with minimal setup and maintenance. 

Learn more by booking a demo here. 

The Future of Data Privacy & First-Party Data Strategy

At this point, everybody should know that Google Chrome is set to phase out third-party cookies by 2025. 

To add fuel to the fire, modern consumers are more privacy-conscious than ever, expecting no compromises while they demand more personalized experiences. 

That's why first-party data is non-negotiable if you want to stay relevant in the ecommerce landscape. The sooner you can adapt, the more resilience you can build against future platform changes and privacy regulations that control access to customer information. 

You should also consider other technologies that let you leverage first-party data to the fullest extent, such as:

• Predictive AI — Build predictive models using previous customer behavior to amplify winning aspects of your marketing (while dialing down on inefficient or wasteful strategies). 
• Website performance optimization — Maximize user engagement and bolster first-party data collection by ensuring all customers get smooth shopping experiences. 
• Tracking proxies — Use solutions like Nostra AI's Identity Extension to obtain and preserve customer data from third-party tracking protocols. 

Conclusion

First-party data is the business owner's compass to modern ecommerce marketing. 

Not only will it help you create personalized experiences, it will also help you foster stronger customer relationships —  both of which are critical to attaining sustainable growth. Not to mention it's a necessity for making data-driven decisions in a world without third-party cookies. 

Lastly, remember that personalization drives performance, but performance enables deep personalization.

Looking to build a fast, data-rich ecommerce experience?

Discover how Nostra AI accelerates site speed and maximizes first-party data collection. Learn more about the Edge Delivery Engine and Identity Extension tool by requesting a free demo here!

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