Pivoting to a privacy-first model in the new era of data security

In recent years, the power of Big Data has transformed the way brands do business and has presented endless opportunities for growth and revenue. With data privacy becoming a bigger and more urgent concern by the day however, the tech industry and lawmakers have begun to drill down into how companies collect and use customer data. With data compliance such a hot button right now, how can brands continue to make the most of customer information while addressing privacy concerns?

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven dramatic changes in today’s consumer behavior. In 2020, many shoppers had no choice but to make most or all of their purchases online due to lockdowns, social distancing concerns, or limited availability of products in their local area.

This acceleration of ecommerce is due to tremendous growth in two consumer segments:

• Existing online shoppers who have been making even more purchases online
• Traditional brick-and-mortar shoppers who have been forced to move much or all of their purchasing activity online

This increase in online consumer activity has uncovered a significant gap between data collection and data privacy compliance—and companies are updating their business strategies to address it. According to a 2021 study by Forrester and Cap Gemini, 71% of the companies planning to increase cybersecurity spend due to COVID-19 are now planning to put a high priority on data-centric security.

The role of the tech industry

Recently, consumers have noticed a response to this issue from tech industry giants. When Apple rolled out the iOS14 update, users were asked to opt-in to tracking by apps they are using. In addition, Google has changed its policies and will be removing third-party cookies from its Chrome browser by 2023.

With these policy shifts now in place (and potentially more on the horizon), brands doing business online are under scrutiny. Because many of their existing strategies now put them at risk for non-compliance with new guidelines, they’re being forced to rethink how they market to their target audiences.

Why online retailers must pivot now

Customer data is and will remain key to growth and revenue for online retailers. It delivers a 360-degree view of the customer, and fuels things like strategic decision making, campaign targeting, marketing personalization, and customer service, to name just a few. To thrive in this privacy-first environment, companies will need to pivot actively and intelligently to adapt to new requirements around decentralized data systems.

As consumers head back out into a world still figuring out how to live in ongoing pandemic conditions, it’s unlikely they will go back to their pre-COVID shopping habits. Instead, they’ll be adapting their behaviors to a new normal.

Positioning your brand for heightened customer privacy:

Quick checklist
Today, traditional data collection methods, like cookies and device IDs just aren’t robust enough to keep you compliant with customers’ current data privacy expectations. Here’s a checklist to get you started on transforming your operations to a stronger data privacy model:

• Work with privacy-compliant partners to enrich your existing data
• Invest in developing data around both online and offline consumer behavior
• Move to a strategy utilizing unified and persistent customer identifiers to effectively target and message customers without putting their data at risk
• Target small customer cohorts, using algorithms to model unique personas that have numerous characteristics in common but aren’t associated with individual customers
• Get more from your first-party data by investing in building your own repository of anonymous data to make it easier to deliver omnichannel marketing campaigns without the risk of identifiable data leaks
• Consider cookie-free tracking solutions that use first-party identifiers from advertisers and publishers instead of personal data
• Turn the heightened focus on privacy into a competitive advantage and grow your market share by including a clear, well-developed privacy policy on all customer-facing platforms