THIRD-PARTY IDENTIFIERS ARE GOING AWAY. WHAT’S THE IMPACT ON RETAIL MARKETERS?

THIRD-PARTY IDENTIFIERS ARE GOING AWAY. WHAT’S THE IMPACT ON RETAIL MARKETERS?

THIRD-PARTY IDENTIFIERS ARE GOING AWAY. WHAT’S THE IMPACT ON RETAIL MARKETERS?

Our survey results show retailers are anxious about what’s at stake, but there are solutions to this industry-wide problem.

Our survey results show retailers are anxious about what’s at stake, but there are solutions to this industry-wide problem.

In January 2020, Google announced it would phase out third-party cookies (3PCs) in Chrome, and in June, Apple made a similar announcement about their device identifier for advertisers (IDFA).
As more third-party identifiers (3PIDs) go away, it’s important to ask: How do retail marketers feel about these changes and what are they doing to prepare?
We conducted a survey to find out.
In January 2020, Google announced it would phase out third-party cookies (3PCs) in Chrome, and in June, Apple made a similar announcement about their device identifier for advertisers (IDFA).
As more third-party identifiers (3PIDs) go away, it’s important to ask: How do retail marketers feel about these changes and what are they doing to prepare?
We conducted a survey to find out.

Why does 3PID deprecation matter for retail brands?

Why does 3PID deprecation matter for retail brands?

Retail marketers rely heavily on cookie data, mobile ad identifiers (MAIDs) and other identifiers to serve personalized ads, which help their brands stand out in a crowded market.

of retailers are already struggling with scale and audience recognition

of retailers think that digital advertising will take a step backwards in personalizing and proving marketing effectiveness

of retailers are “very reliant” on 3PCs with an additional 42% who are “moderately reliant”

What’s at stake?

of retail marketers agree 3PID deprecation will have at least the same (or greater) impact as GDPR and CCPA

of retail marketers feel somewhat prepared for the shift

Here’s what’s on the table:

Identity

Identity is much more than just knowing how many people you can reach online—it’s about knowing whom you’re actually talking to.

Personalization

Are we slipping back to more contextual, segment-based (and less effective) advertising?

Measurement

Whom have you been messaging? And which of these people bought something as a result? You need the hard numbers to prove your return and optimize spend.

How are retail marketers preparing?

Building a private ID graph

Trying to build your own database that houses all known identifiers that correlate with individual customers may seem like the right idea—but most retail brands don’t have the actual reach or scale to do this completely on their own.

Building a CDP

CDPs are important in the post-3PID world, but Forrester’s Joe Stanhope says, “Marketers must proceed with caution and seek CDPs that can deliver stronger capabilities than the tools they already have.”

Reverting to contextual targeting

Although it’s the easiest route, segment-based advertising means less relevant messaging. Brands would lose the individual-level personalization that many consumers expect today.

Using first-party data strategies

This is the big opportunity for retailers. With third-party data harder to acquire and to use effectively, retailers do have the first-party data needed to execute relevant marketing across channels—for themselves and brand partners.

Using data clean rooms

Another interesting opportunity, cross-vendor clean room solutions give retail brands access to highly unique ad data without self-serving vendor restrictions that impact activation and measurement.

Retail recommendations

Diversify data sources and maximize your collection and activation of first-party data.

Because data from 3PIDs will soon be harder to acquire and use effectively, retail marketers need to increase their first-party customer interactions and the data they collect from them.

 

An easy place to start? Transactional data.

Retail marketers using offline transactional data to identify customers*

Retail marketers using online transactional data to identify customers*

But don’t forget something: Data privacy should be at the forefront, and any exchange of data should be rooted in creating value for the consumer. Be clear about what data you’re collecting and how you’ll use it, and only collect what’s necessary.

*Forrester Survey. “Improve Customer Experience And Optimize Spend With Identity Resolution: A Spotlight On Retail.” December 2019.

Look for an ID solution based on first-party publisher data.

If you want to continue to deliver people-focused ads across the open web without 3PIDs, the best option is to integrate with first-party data from website publishers.

 

Many publishers collect data from their users in exchange for content. Scaled and linked to a strong identity graph, this data can be used to identify consumers and personalize ads after 3PIDs are gone.

This is a highly effective solution when it comes from an experienced vendor with scalable technology. However, most of these solutions are nascent and lack scale to be effective in the near-term.

 

Make sure your ID solution incorporates a wide variety of data sources.

Don’t just rely on one or two flimsy identifiers. Knowing and understanding who you’re messaging in the digital space should be based on multiple identifiers—think up to eight or nine ways to verify a person’s identity.

  • Email address
  • IP address
  • Login data
  • Phone number
  • Social media ID or handle
  • Device ID

Brands may not have every single identifier for every person, but digital identity should be built on multiple identifying traits to ensure accuracy, relevance and measurement.

Make sure you’re prepared for 3PID deprecation

 

Get the full research: Preparing for a world without third-party identifiers

First Name*

Last Name*

Company*

Country*

Email Address*

I agree to receiving marketing communications from Epsilon, and agree to the processing of my personal data in accordance with and as described in the Privacy Policy. You may withdraw your consent at any time. For more details see our Privacy Policy.
I agree to receiving marketing communications from Epsilon, and agree to the processing of my personal data in accordance with and as described in the Privacy Policy. You may withdraw your consent at any time. For more details see our Privacy Policy.
Want to learn more?
Download the playbook to learn more about how a cookieless solution works
Learn more
Visit Epsilon’s website to explore
our cookieless solution
Learn more