Let's face it, we've been hearing about the end of third-party cookies since 2021 — and it has kept brands and advertisers on their toes ever since. 

Nearly four years ago as of writing, Google announced that they're phasing out third-party cookies in an effort to create a privacy-first internet. And in July 2024, they moved the deadline yet again to mid-late 2025. 

This time, all signs point to a truly cookieless web. 

The question is, what does the so-called "cookiepocalypse" mean for ecommerce businesses? 

That's one of the things we'll address in this post. Read on and you'll also learn the reasons why third-party cookies are important for ecommerce, why they're disappearing, and how you can adapt.

What are Third-Party Cookies? 

First, let's define what a cookie is.

In internet speak, a cookie is a tiny text file saved on a device through a web browser. Its purpose is simple: To collect certain pieces of user data, like browsing history, interests, click activity, and previous ad interactions. 

A third-party cookie is created and managed by external services, like an ad network, analytics tool, or social media platform. In contrast, a first-party cookie is created by the owner of the website that uses it. 

For ecommerce businesses, cookies are useful for a number of reasons, like:

• Retargeting ads — By identifying users and tracking their browsing history, ecommerce brands can launch retargeted messaging tailored to those who interacted with you before. 
• Cross-site tracking — If your ecommerce business utilizes multi-channel marketing, cookies enable you to analyze user interactions and the performance of different touchpoints.
• Affiliate marketing tracking — Cookies are also essential for tracking attribution (who gets paid a commission) in affiliate marketing sales. 

Why are Third-Party Cookies Going Away? 

Although third-party cookies offer huge benefits for advertisers (and users), they do raise some eyebrows among users and regulatory bodies: 

Privacy Concerns & Regulation

If there's one thing responsible for the eventual disappearance of third-party cookies, it's the internet's modern, privacy-conscious audience. 

As the demand for data privacy shoots up, so does the creation of regulations like: 

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — An EU privacy law enforcing strict guidelines on how user data can be collected, stored, and used.
• California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) — A state law specific to California that grants citizens data privacy rights like knowing what data is collected, opting out of data collection, deleting their information, and more.
• App Tracking Transparency (ATT) — An iOS-specific framework that requires developers to obtain the user's permission first before gathering any data.

Bear in mind that even if your ecommerce business is outside of the EU or California, you still need to observe privacy regulations if you cater to users in those locations. Non-compliance puts you at risk of substantial fines and legal consequences, which are never a good thing if you're looking to grow your business.

Major Browser Changes

To appeal to users' ever-growing demand for digital privacy, mainstream browsers like Safari and Mozilla Firefox already block third-party cookies by default. 

Google also repeatedly expressed its intent to phase out third-party cookies. And looking at the current timeline, you'll be waving goodbye to them by the end of 2025 at the latest.

Impact on Digital Advertising

Since digital advertisers stand to gain the most from third-party cookies, it is no surprise that they're also the ones that are most affected by the cookiepocalypse.

No third-party cookies means limited audience retargeting capabilities. This is a huge hit for brands that rely on re-engagement campaigns to acquire new customers. 

It will also be harder to track and analyze customer journeys if you have multi-channel funnels. This creates a need for first-party data or alternative tracking solutions.

How the Loss of Third-Party Cookies Impacts Ecommerce

The loss of third-party cookies won't just affect how ecommerce businesses advertise.

Below are a few more things you should be aware of:

• Customer Retargeting Becomes Harder — Aiming social media ads at users who interacted with your website before is a widely-used strategy in ecommerce. On the flip side, platforms like Facebook now allow advertisers to use first-party cookies when setting up trackers or "pixels" on their websites.
• Personalization Challenges — What's ironic about the pushback against tracking cookies is that 71% of modern ecommerce consumers expect personalized experiences. With reduced access to user behavior data, you need to look for workarounds to continue leveraging marketing personalization. 
• Affiliate Marketing Disruptions — If your affiliate program still relies on third-party cookies for attribution, you'll get your hands full once Chrome finally deprecates them. This makes tracking referral sales much trickier, especially for customer journeys that interact with multiple touchpoints.
• Higher Acquisition Costs — Without the precise audience targeting capabilities powered by third-party cookies, ecommerce brands may need to spend more on wider-aiming, buckshot ad campaigns to generate customers. Or, they need to invest in new advertising networks or tools with targeting capabilities that don't rely on cookies. 
• Worse User Experience — While customers worry about their privacy, what most of them don't realize is how a cookieless internet can negatively impact the user experience. Not only are hyper-personalized campaigns harder to achieve, some advertisers may revert back to spammy tactics to compensate for the lack of reliable audience targeting options.

How Ecommerce Brands Can Adapt to a Cookieless Future

Now, for some good news: 

Advertisers and marketing thought leaders have been developing ways to circumvent the challenges of a cookieless internet — way before Google publicized its 2025 deprecation deadline.

Here are five strategies your ecommerce business can use today:

1. Leverage First-Party Data 

The most natural approach to addressing the cookieless problem is to collect your own first-party data.

Most ecommerce platforms like Shopify come with built-in audience reporting capabilities. This enables you to obtain site engagement data like visits, purchases, newsletter signups, and add-to-cart rate.

One strategy is to export your ecommerce audience data into your advertising platform to create "lookalike audiences." For example, after collecting customer information through your newsletter offer, you can import your list into your TikTok advertising campaign to specifically target existing leads.

If your ecommerce platform doesn't natively collect customer data (which is highly unlikely), you can rely on tools like Google Analytics to collect your own first-party data yourself. 

Aside from Google Analytics, you can also count on data from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive.

2. Invest in Server-Side Tracking

In simple terms, server-side tracking is the practice of collecting user data directly through your server — bypassing the need for a third-party cookie to save, process, and forward information. 

Keep in mind that traditional, client-side tracking has multiple points of failure. Users may choose to reject tracking cookies, use privacy blockers, disable scripts, or use built-in browser features that prevent data collection.

Server-side tracking, on the other hand, lets you hard-code data collection into your ecommerce website. 

An easy way to enable server-side tracking is through purpose-built tools like Google Tag Manager (via server-side tagging) and Stape.

3. Use Google's Privacy Sandbox & Alternative Tracking Solutions

The Privacy Sandbox is an initiative created to protect user privacy while providing brands with the tools to reach the right audience. 

For example, the Topics API enables brands to aim ads at users who recently expressed an interest in their niche. This is determined by the user's browsing history while keeping personal information anonymous. 

You can use the Topics API via HTTP headers or JavaScript. 

You can also explore alternative tracking solutions like Unified ID 2.0, which is an open-source identity framework that uses encrypted (hashed + salted) email addresses and phone numbers for targeted advertising. This is useful for ecommerce brands that use omnichannel marketing and currently have no contingency plans once third-party cookies disappear.

4. Expand Zero-Party Data Collection

First off, zero-party data pertains to information that customers provide your website willingly. 

This allows you to launch hyper-targeted campaigns, such as personalized emails or dynamic content placements, without relying on third-party data. 

Here are strategies that will help beef up your zero-party data collection efforts:

• Start with an email list — If you haven't already, build an email marketing strategy around sending valuable resources and offers to users in exchange for basic information (e.g., their birthday, location, and age).
• Increase engagement with quizzes and surveys — Consider investing in tools like SurveyMonkey to grasp what your main audience looks like.
• Allow registered users to control their preferences — Refine your customer dataset by allowing existing users to set preferences, like their product interests and preferred notification channels.  
• Promote exclusive offers — Plan events, discounts, and memberships with benefits to generate more zero-party data.

5. Optimize for Contextual Advertising

Finally, you can always reach the right audience by positioning your ads in relevant content — AKA contextual advertising.

This way, you're not relying on third-party cookie data. Rather, you're looking at keywords and the types of audiences they generate. 

You can implement contextual advertising on your own website with your own content — or, reach out to relevant website owners and pay for ad space in high-traffic posts.

For example, if you're selling men's grooming products, you can seek out ad placements in popular articles about topics like dating for men, job interviews, and self-care tips.

The Role of Site Performance in a Cookieless World

Believe it or not, ecommerce site performance is one of the biggest deciding factors in online purchase decisions. And, in a cookieless world, its significance only gets more profound. 

To put things into perspective, remember that ad retargeting is one of the areas that will weaken without third-party cookies. 

By optimizing your ecommerce website's speed, you can significantly reduce bounce rate and, in turn, diminish your reliance on retargeting in the first place. 

Statistics show that 54% of users abandon sites that take over three seconds to load. That's over half of your customers bouncing away because your virtual storefront is a couple of seconds too slow.

Other than bounce rate, page speed is also directly linked to an ecommerce website's conversion performance:

This takes us to Nostra AI's Edge Delivery Engine — a cutting-edge solution designed to supercharge performance for the vast majority of internet users worldwide. 

Using AI-enhanced caching and edge delivery protocols, any ecommerce site can achieve near-instant loading speeds. Best of all, the plug-and-play engine can be set up and running in around 30 minutes — not weeks or months.

To see the Edge Delivery Engine in action, click here to book a demo today.

Conclusion

In a privacy-focused world, the demise of third-party cookies is long overdue. 

This will surely have a dramatic impact on the entire digital advertising landscape — not just in ecommerce. 

To prepare for the incoming paradigm shift, your best bet is to future-proof your advertising through modern, cookieless targeting techniques. This includes first-party data, server-side tracking, and contextual targeting.

Don't wait to revamp your advertising strategy, either. 

The sooner you act, the better positioned your ecommerce brand will be to withstand the cookiepocalypse. 

Looking to future-proof your ecommerce store? Nostra AI ensures your site loads fast and converts better — cookie or no cookie.

Book a demo here!