For years, ecommerce merchants relied on third-party cookies for ad targeting, retargeting, and audience building. That era is over.
Browser-level cookie deprecation, iOS privacy changes, and increasing consumer privacy expectations have fundamentally shifted the data landscape. The merchants who thrive in this environment are the ones building strong first-party data strategies — where the customer relationship, and the data that flows from it, is owned directly.
For Shopify merchants, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. You already have direct relationships with your customers. The question is how to build on that foundation in a way that creates durable competitive advantage.
What Is First-Party Data and Why Does It Matter Now
First-party data is information you collect directly from your customers through your own channels — your website, email list, purchase history, customer service interactions, surveys, and loyalty programs.
It differs from:
Third-party data: Purchased from data brokers or ad platforms; collected across many sites and properties. Privacy regulations and browser changes have dramatically reduced its availability and reliability.
Second-party data: Another company's first-party data that you access directly through a partnership. Useful but dependent on external relationships.
First-party data is the only category you control completely. It does not deprecate. It does not depend on browser behavior. It is not subject to platform policy changes. And it is uniquely yours — competitors cannot access the same data about your specific customers.
The First-Party Data Assets Shopify Merchants Already Have
Before building a strategy, inventory what you already have:
This is a strong foundation. The strategy is about deepening and activating these assets — not starting from scratch.
Adding the Identity Layer: Order Enrichment as First-Party Data
One of the most underused first-party data strategies for Shopify merchants is order enrichment.
When you use a tool like SonarID to enrich incoming orders with public identity data — social profiles, influence metrics, professional context — that enrichment is appended to your own customer records. It becomes part of your first-party data asset.
This matters because:
Order enrichment is a privacy-compliant, cookieless way to dramatically increase the signal value of your existing customer data. Learn more about what order enrichment is and how it works.
First-Party Data Collection Strategies for Shopify
Email and SMS List Growth
Your direct communication channels are your most important first-party data assets. Invest in growing them:
Zero-Party Data Collection
Zero-party data is information customers proactively share — preferences, interests, self-identification. It is the highest-quality first-party data because it is explicit and intentional.
Collect it via:
Behavioral Data Activation
Your existing on-site behavioral data is valuable but often underactivated. Use it for:
The First-Party Data Tech Stack for Shopify Merchants
A lean, effective first-party data stack:
1. SonarID — real-time order enrichment with identity and social data
2. Klaviyo or Omnisend — email and SMS with behavioral automation
3. Shopify's native analytics — behavioral and purchase data
4. Postscript or Attentive — SMS-specific data and communication
5. Okendo or Gorgias — review and support data integration
Customer Data Enrichment for Shopify
Beyond Shopify Analytics: Customer Insights Your Dashboard Doesn't Show
Ecommerce Personalization in 2025
How to Identify Your VIP Customers on Shopify
The Bottom Line
The merchants who build strong first-party data strategies now — while competitors are still adjusting to a cookieless world — will have a significant advantage in customer acquisition cost, retention, and personalization capability.
Order enrichment is one of the fastest ways to increase the signal density of the first-party data you already own.