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Marketing for e-commerce is evolving quickly, affected in no small part by the shift away from 3rd party cookies. Firefox blocked 3rd party cookies by default in 2019, Safari in 2020, and Google Chrome is scheduled to do so early 2025 (as of Oct. 2024). As Google Chrome owns over 66% of the web browser market, this change will force a major shift in how marketers advertise to and track customers.
Shopify apps such as Gojiberry, who use zero party data gathered directly from your users, are emerging as popular new e-commerce alternatives to replace out-dated 3rd party cookies. Zero party data surveys allow you to track where your customers are coming from, giving you better ways to target your customers efficiently in your evolving marketing campaigns.
3rd party cookies are a way for marketers to track user activity across different websites. They allow you to save data on your browser on one website, and access that data on another website (on a 3rd party website). This ability is quite critical for advertisers. For example it helps them know when someone clicks an advertisement on Instagram, and then whether that same someone made a purchase on an ecommerce site. This ability to track what source a purchase came from is crucial for marketing attribution. It gives advertisers the ability to track and aggregate activity across a whole range of websites to develop an understanding of your preferences and habits. This aggregate data is fed into complex algorithms to help advertisers target their ads efficiently to maximize the effectiveness of their ads.
One word - privacy. 3rd party cookies allow advertisers to create a very detailed and personal portrait of you, whether you are aware of it or not. Privacy protection centric agencies such as the European GPRD and American CPRA are cracking down on protecting your right to your personal data. The important policy that concerns 3rd party cookies is the requirement to get the user's informed consent before tracking their customer behavior and personal data. This policy has led to the newly common practice of displaying a popup asking you to accept/reject the use of cookies when you first enter a website.
Screenshot of how GDPR themselves ask for user’s consent to their use of cookies.
61% of consumers say they do not trust 3rd party cookies, showing how the world at large has grown increasingly sensitive to their personal information. The major browsers Firefox, Safari, and Chrome have come around to these regulations and user preferences, finally blocking 3rd party cookies by default.
The rise of GDPR is a big win for the common person’s personal privacy, however a big loss for marketers. Advertisers not being able to track user activity means your Google ads, Meta ads, and digital ads generally are much less effective. Also, it is much harder to know where your users are coming from. Without this information, it is difficult to allocate your marketing budget efficiently, and to know where to allocate your marketing efforts strategically.
With the downfall of 3rd party cookies, marketers have been searching for effective, privacy-friendly methods to gather actionable insights from their users. Gathering data directly from your customers is proving to be both a reliable source and user friendly. 91% of consumers are happy to share their personal and preference data in return for loyalty rewards. This is because zero party solutions such as surveys are relatively transparent, with users understanding why and where their data is going, staying inline with the intentions of GDPR privacy regulations.
Zero party data are a great alternative to web analytics tools such as Google Analytics, giving meaningful and deeper insights. You can gather key insights from firsthand sources to better understand customer journeys and customer satisfaction, and to integrate with marketing strategies to connect with new potential customers.
According to Gojiberry, marketing attribution surveys is the most common type of survey used among Shopify stores. Simply asking “Where did you first hear about us?” is a straightforward way to gather reliable data on primary sources of where your customers are truly coming from. Demographic surveys asking about age range, gender, etc are also helpful in understanding your target audience for future ads to target higher performing customer segments.
Surveys aren’t only an alternative for various 3rd party trackers, but can give you richer insights in other ways not possible with typical 3rd party data. By asking purchase motivation questions such as “What factors most influence your buying decision?”, you can learn where your brand differentiates from competitors. These insights can help you plan future product development.
Product quizzes are where you ask your customers questions, and then based on the answers to these questions generate product recommendations. They are the digital equivalent to store assistants, giving advice and guiding customers to products that match them best. Not only are you giving your customers a great personalized shopping experience increasing your conversion rates, but you are gathering zero party data that helps you understand your customer’s preferences.
3rd party data is quickly going extinct, forcing marketers to find better alternatives that are GPDR compliant, and that respect the privacy concerns of users. Zero party data solutions such as Gojiberry’s surveys and product quizzes satisfy these needs while giving you valuable insights to improve your marketing attribution, e-commerce store personalization, and business strategy overall.
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