Information a business collects directly from its own customers and audience, such as purchases, sign-ups, and website activity.
First-party data comes from a company's own channels: its website, app, point of sale system, loyalty program, surveys, and customer service. It differs from second-party data, which is another company's first-party data shared through a partnership, and third-party data, which is gathered by outside providers across many sites.
As web browsers restrict third-party cookies and privacy laws tighten, first-party data has become more valuable for marketing and personalization. For example, a bakery that records what loyalty members buy can email a seasonal offer to people who regularly order cakes, without relying on external tracking. Retailers also use first-party data to run retail media networks. Collecting it still requires clear consent, transparent privacy notices, and secure storage.
Software, known as a CDP, that combines customer data from many sources into unified profiles that marketing and other tools can use.
Loyalty ProgramA scheme that rewards repeat customers with points, discounts, or perks, encouraging them to keep buying from the same business.
Retail Media NetworkAn advertising business run by a retailer that sells ad space on its websites, apps, and stores, targeted using its own shopper data.
Web CookieA small text file a website stores in your browser to remember information such as login status, preferences, or shopping cart contents.
Plain-English guide to tracking marketing results as third-party cookies fade: first-party data, server-side tagging, consent mode, conversion APIs and modeled data.
How first-touch, last-touch, multi-touch and data-driven attribution work, where each one misleads, and how to pick a model you can trust.
How pixels, audiences and frequency caps power retargeting ads, which audiences to build first, and the privacy rules that limit what you can do.