Collect First-Party Data through Drop Ship and Marketplace eCommerce Solutions

At the peak of eCommerce data flow, third-party cookies were the lifeline of thousands of brands and suppliers looking to capitalize on first-party purchasing, customer, and trend data moving through retailers’ websites. 

It’s more important than ever that retailers, brands, and suppliers capitalize on the unique ways to harvest first-party data through their drop ship and marketplace solutions—especially as new customer acquisition strategies become cost-prohibitive to explore.

The “Cookie Wars” and Consumer Privacy Protection

The “Cookie Wars” began as a calculated effort to reduce, or at least give consumers the option to reduce, the data that they share with third-party entities. Privacy regulations like GDPR in the EU and CCPA in California gave websites an ultimatum to provide options to opt out of third-party data sharing. Thus, consumers have become more selective about how and where they share their data, and with whom. Consumers expect companies to respect their data and will only share it if they believe you will store it securely and are transparent on how you will use it. Google and Apple have already instituted plans to limit access to third-party cookies, ending an important and impactful stream of data brands and suppliers relied on. 

In lieu of third-party cookies, organizations are focusing on collecting more customer data directly from interactions on their own channels, commonly referred to as first-party data. 

The Value of Utilizing First-Party Data

You may be thinking: “Why do I even need that first-party data? I know who my customers are, and I know why they shop for my products.” Well, the reality is that the data collected from consumers isn’t just about what they are shopping for but when, how, and through which channels. First-party data can help you maximize your customer’s shopping carts, explore new target demographics, and make informed product decisions that are fluid and change throughout the year, rather than relying on archaic sales cycles. 

But let’s start with the shopping cart…

Maximizing Needs and Wants

By building your own eCommerce solution, one focused on providing your brand a way to carefully navigate first-party data and bring your loyal customers to your site, you can return to maximizing your target demographics’ needs and wants. This level of access is only attainable through carefully curated first-party data. 

Major brands across the industry are making this revolutionary data-focused shift. Brands like Samsung, the largest cell phone and TV manufacturer in the world, realized the value of selling their products on a first-party site rather than exclusively through major retailers. 

Samsung was able to build out global online marketplaces that capitalized on the full shopping experience. Consumers visiting their new marketplaces can purchase a Samsung computer monitor, but can now also build the complete work-from-home package with new mice, keyboards, and webcams from every major distributor to round out that customer’s shopping cart. 

Before building out these marketplaces, Samsung had no direct visibility into customer use cases. If a consumer bought a Samsung TV from a third-party retailer, they had no insight into whether that TV was going to be used primarily for sports, streaming, or even as a computer monitor in more advanced desk setups. Purchasing decisions and data from that purchase was left in a void of uncertain and unmarketable metrics.

With first-party data streaming through their platform, and access to expanded shopping cart information, Samsung can make more targeted marketing and sales campaigns directed to the appropriate consumers while also developing products that align with what their consumers are looking for. This level of first-party data ensures that Samsung already knows what their target demographics are looking for, purchasing, and exploring on their website and can provide more curated experiences before consumers return. 

Explore New Target Demographics

Once your site is up and running, exploring new target demographics is more straightforward. First-party data gives your organization insight into purchasing patterns, hit products, and even sales windows to maximize profits and “social buzz.” 

Once organizations feel comfortable utilizing this data to make informed product decisions, exploring new avenues to market, service, and sell products becomes less arduous. While customer acquisition costs are increasing rapidly due to various market factors, new demographics don’t even have to be new customers. This data can help you explore new ways to market toward your current customers by expanding your assortment of goods to better serve their entire shopping cart or even providing new sales windows to maximize trends your organization sees across social channels.  

Informed Decisions

This access to first-party data is the first step to exploring unique cross-sell and up-sell opportunities as well. With detailed information about purchasing patterns and data-driven insights into when and why consumers are purchasing certain products, your organization can better explore the perfect times to recommend up-sell products. This same logic applies to cross-sell add-ons like additional warranties, peripherals for a desk setup, or even white-glove installation services. 

Trust and new product movement strategies are just ways to drive a perfected shopping experience and maximize consumer experience management. Brands and suppliers that relied on retailers to market and display their products can now instead build their own eCommerce site and control the entire brand narrative. Everything from the shopping experience to customer support after the sale can be run through a first-party channel entirely designed by the brand’s team. 

It’s Time to Get Started

Third-party cookies aren’t returning to the field. Due to data security concerns, and a mountain of new consumer data security bills, exploring ways to utilize customer data must be done through first-party sites. But where do you start? 

First things first, you must sit down and organize your thoughts on the value of target first-party data. Once you understand your goals (whether to sell more products, acquire new customers, or embrace new strategies), you can map out the tasks needed to get there. 

Utilizing eCommerce Partnerships

With an internal plan in place, it’s time to explore market options. Logicbroker is one of many eCommerce solutions on the market that can help organizations build drop ship and marketplace programs to harvest actionable first-party data. Where we differ, however, is in providing consultations to organizations looking to rework their eCommerce strategy and capitalizing on those one-on-one consultation sessions in a matter of days, rather than months. 

Our team of experts can provide insight into how your program would look, what your ROI would be, and how exactly eCommerce solutions, whether it’s Logicbroker or not, can help shape your data and revenue strategies. 

Once a solution is reached, Logicbroker’s industry-leading, automated onboarding speeds helped get retailers like Boscov’s entire eCommerce program up and running in under 6 weeks. With automated onboarding being done in under an hour for retailers across our network, Logicbroker blends speed with accuracy regardless of the supplier’s level of technical sophistication and connection types. 

Solutions like ours are designed to provide a total shopping cart experience—one focused on providing unmatched visibility into orders, invoices, and your whole supply chain. We’ve helped organizations like Samsung and Boscov’s realize their first-party goals, and we work with all organizations looking to capture wallet share, personalize their eCommerce approach, and facilitate long-lasting consumer interactions.