In May, Google once again delayed its third-party cookie deprecation. The postponement was due to a failed phaseout test of 1% of Chrome users that was started in January. Industry news reports that Google's proposed replacement technology, Privacy Sandbox —which is in the very early stage of adoption and results—is not private enough, with a major regulator reporting critical flaws that could allow users to be identified. Google has now earmarked 2025 for full deprecation.

What does this postponement mean for marketers?

Honestly, not much. Since this is Google's third postponement, many industry professionals merely reacted across LinkedIn  with a "Here we go again" or "I'm not surprised" comment.

But in seriousness, a cookie-less world has been industry buzz since 2020. When consumer demand for privacy peaked and regulators and businesses took notice and began creating regulations to protect them. So, marketers have had ample time to set up and start executing a replacement strategy.

But what is the replacement strategy for Third-party data?

There isn't a true 1:1 replacement but more of an opportunity for retailers and brands to level up their identity and data collection strategies. At Listrak, we believe retail marketers can stay on the pulse of their shoppers' behavior by prioritizing an active and focused approach to collect zero-party and first-party data from their owned channels – website, email, SMS, push, etc.

Savvy marketers know that data freely provided by our customers (zero party) or data collected with their consent based on shopping behaviors (first party) is more powerful in moving the engagement, loyalty, and conversion needles than third-party aggregated data collections from anonymized audiences.

• 83% of consumers are willing to share their data for a personalized experience - Accenture
• 71% of customers feel frustrated when a shopping experience is impersonal -Segment

How does this affect my Listrak solutions?

The good news is that it doesn’t. Listrak only uses first party cookies to assist in storing temporary session data needed to support things such as user session tracking or popup suppression. We’ve done extensive testing in the Privacy Sandbox to confirm that no impact would be made to existing Listrak services and will continue to monitor changes to ensure all Listrak service are not affected.  

Listrak helps marketers collect data and power deeper customer connection

1. Listrak’s Growth Xcelerator Platform (GXP) is identity resolution marketing in action

GXP adds a layer of identity to your website to help you capture and identify the anonymous traffic that hits your site. GXP uses strategically aggressive acquisition tactics to compile as much zero party data as possible. Then hyper personalized tactics come into play to help capture first-party data from these site browsers, and personalize offers are used to get the browsers to convert in that first session.

2. Leverage SMS to collect customer preferences in real time

While you can always collect responses from your customers through onsite forms, Preference Centers, and quizzes alike, the conversational nature of SMS allows for an even more efficient way of collecting this kind of data. Info Campaigns and Data Acquisition Campaigns via text provide opportunities to ask your contacts what they’re shopping for, what their ideal size is, where they prefer to shop, and more. You can even collect their birthdate to trigger a personalized birthday campaign to deliver a special treat on their special day.

3. Dynamic Product Recommendations deliver 1:1 personalization and increase revenue by 30%

Use first-party browse, cart, and purchase data and then data you collected in #2 above, to inform the product and content recommendations that you show to each customer via email and onsite throughout their shopping journey. Furthermore, Recurring Automated Campaigns are a great evergreen send that can be built entirely of recommended products highly relevant to the customer, helping to increase lifetime value and loyalty.

4. Popups are a best practice 

Entrance, Exit, Two-Step flows, and Tap-to-Join functionalities on mobile are all proven to acquire new subscribers (especially when paired with a compelling incentive). Listrak provides you with the tools you need to collect, analyze, and build w/ first party data by collecting email & SMS opt-in. The data collected is yours to leverage.

5. Re-engage and Winback using first-party data

Use your first-party data to create lapsing, at-risk automated email & SMS journeys based off the order information you receive from customers across multiple channels to re-target them before they fully churn. It costs more to acquire a customer then to retain a customer.

6. Increase Conversions and Lifetime Value with Predictive Analytics

Predictive Analytics looks at customer behavioral data mixed with AI, machine learning, and statistical models to access the likelihood of what will happen next. You can then engage through automated segments based on “likelihood to purchase or click” or “what product affinities a customer may have,” etc.  As customer behavior evolves, predictive models automatically retrain.

Also, once cookies do deprecate, privacy and compliance will become super critical. So, make sure you are up to date on the latest regarding GDPR, CCPA, CASL, CAN-SPAM etc.

While Listrak does not directly correlate with third-party cookies, knowledge is power!

At Listrak we strive to be more than just a platform. We work to be an extension of your digital marketing team – helping you succeed now and in the future. So, work with your account manager and GXP strategists to maximize your first- and zero- party data collection. Then use strategy in the platform to power that data and drive growth.