One of the most valuable assets to a brand today is its customer data. High-quality data unlocks better decision-making and illuminates untapped opportunities. It decreases enterprise risk and keeps leaders from investing in dead-end products or niches. And in today’s hyper-competitive world, good customer data is how brands truly separate themselves in the market.

“The challenge many brands face today is a lack of ownership over their customer data. For many e-commerce businesses, the convenience of using “vendor apps” within their Shopify stack—such as email, reviews, quizzes, and loyalty tools—offers a quick time-to-market solution. However, this creates a fragmented martech stack where each vendor, including Shopify, controls a piece of the customer data puzzle.

As a result, brands often rely on external data that can only describe broad patterns and behaviors across groups, rather than gaining actionable insights into individual customers. While brands might identify demographic traits or online activity as indicators of loyalty, they lack the ability to understand or act on specific individual preferences, limiting their ability to build deeper, personalized connections with customers.”

Brands that own their customer data don’t have to make as many assumptions about what their buyers want. They can instead allocate resources where they know there is value, which creates a significant strategic advantage. The good news is that shifting to a zero- or first-party data mindset doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Leaders simply have to recognize the value of owning customer data and then build capabilities or adopt tools that enable them to take full advantage all within reach using a methodical process.

The benefits of using zero and first-party data

Zero-party data is information that consumers provide directly to brands through channels like polls, surveys, and chats. First-party data is information that brands collect on customers based on their interactions with the brands through web or mobile applications. In both cases, companies own the data and can typically attribute it to a specific individual. As a result, brands can personalize incentives and content based on an individual’s preferences and create better overall brand experiences for important customers.

When customers feel understood and valued, they reward brands with lasting loyalty. They not only continue purchasing but also become vocal advocates, promoting the brand to others. Authentic advocacy has tremendous benefit to the brand that results organic user growth (reduced CAC) and revenue growth. Personalized experiences build trust, turning customers into champions who drive revenue through referrals and increased personal spending. These loyal customers are more likely to stick with the brand over time and expand their purchases, creating a strong foundation for sustainable growth.

Furthermore, companies that collect and own customer data can not only optimize the customer journey but develop experiences to meet the customer along their individual journey with the brand.  Brands can intentionally solicit feedback from consumers to discover their unmet needs. Knowing more about individual consumers not only enables clarity in product investments, but also empowers everyone across the go-to-market motion. Employees in marketing, sales, and customer success can delight individuals in every interaction they have with the brand.

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Ensuring data control and quality

Another benefit of zero- and first-party data is that brands have more control over data quality. They can choose how and when to collect information about customers. They can implement robust security measures to protect data integrity and ensure they gather as much information as needed to take action. Enriching data is also much easier when the brand owns more of the data pipeline. Should a company decide to add a new field or form, they can incorporate those data points into what they already know about an individual’s preferences.

Third-party data is inherently unreliable for brands, as it often comes with inaccuracies or errors depending on the source. Its transient nature means it can change or disappear over time, making it difficult to derive consistent long-term trends or patterns. Brands relying solely on third-party data often need to merge multiple external sources, increasing complexity and potential inaccuracies.

Moreover, third-party data isn’t guaranteed to remain accessible. For instance, Google’s long-anticipated move to phase out web cookies—later postponed—highlighted the vulnerability of marketers dependent on such data. Brands that heavily rely on external data expose themselves to unnecessary risks, undermining their ability to build stable, data-driven strategies.

Future-proofing the brand

Transitioning to an owned customer data model is an effective way to future proof the brand. Less reliance on data owned by others means more power to improve sales, marketing, and customer engagement. Brands can stay in the driver seat and invest deeper in relationships with individuals, rather than act based on common denominator characteristics within larger groups. They can also alleviate concerns that customers have around topics like data security and data privacy.

Building a customer data capability is one of the best ways to differentiate from the competition and adapt to the modern era. Consumers today have more leverage over brands than ever before. People can easily find lower-cost alternatives and switch between companies with little recourse. By collecting and using customer data well, brands can deliver exceptional offerings that others can’t replicate. Those who continue to do this over the long term make it difficult for customers to leave and begin a new relationship with an unfamiliar brand. Customer data is a key pillar of success in today’s world.

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