Put this into practice
Run A/B tests and personalize your store without code. 14-day free trial, no credit card.
Start free trial →Run A/B tests and personalize your store without code. 14-day free trial, no credit card.
Start free trial →First-party data is any information that a brand collects directly from its own customers and prospects through its own channels — the website, mobile app, email, SMS, loyalty programme, or physical store. This includes purchase history, browsing behaviour, email engagement, account profile details, support interactions, and survey responses. First-party data is owned by the brand (no third-party intermediary), collected with the customer's knowledge, and typically the most accurate and consent-aligned data a brand possesses.
It is distinct from:
The deprecation of third-party cookies and the tightening of privacy regulations globally (and increasingly in India with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act) are eroding the ability to track and target customers through third-party means. First-party data is the durable foundation of personalisation, retargeting, and customer intelligence in this environment.
For D2C brands specifically, first-party data is the core strategic asset. Unlike brands that sell through marketplaces (Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra), D2C brands own the direct customer relationship — and therefore own all the first-party data that relationship generates. This data advantage compounds: the more data you collect about purchase patterns, preferences, and behaviour, the more accurately you can predict what each customer wants and when they want it.
Revenue applications for first-party data in ecommerce include:
Mamaearth has built an extensive first-party dataset from 5+ years of direct customer transactions on their own platform. This data includes: which product categories each customer has bought from (babycare, haircare, skincare), purchase frequency, average basket size, preferred payment method, and geographic location. They use this data to:
The estimated revenue impact of first-party data activation vs. a data-blind mass campaign approach is estimated at 15–25% improvement in email campaign revenue per send.
First-party data powers segmented A/B testing — running experiments on specific customer cohorts (high-LTV customers, repeat buyers, customers who bought from a specific category) and measuring how variants affect behaviour for those segments. CustomFit.ai's personalisation engine reads first-party data attributes to define experiment audiences and deliver segment-specific experiences.
Run smarter A/B tests with CustomFit.ai — 14-day free trial, no credit card required.