Zero-Party Data

What is Zero-Party Data?

Zero-party data is information that customers intentionally and proactively share with a brand - preferences, purchase intentions, personal context, and feedback provided directly, usually in exchange for a more personalized experience. Unlike first-party data (behavioral data your systems collect passively, like purchase history and browsing patterns) or third-party data (data purchased from external data brokers), zero-party data is given willingly. The consumer knows exactly what they are sharing and why.

In e-commerce, zero-party data collection typically happens through quiz funnels, preference centers, post-purchase surveys, and onboarding flows. A skincare brand that asks new subscribers 'What's your primary skin concern?' before sending their welcome flow is collecting zero-party data. A supplement brand whose product recommendation quiz asks about health goals, dietary restrictions, and current routines is building a zero-party data profile. This information is then used to personalize email content, product recommendations, and on-site experiences in ways that passive behavioral data alone cannot support - especially for new customers who haven't yet generated a purchase history.

Zero-party data has become strategically critical for two intersecting reasons. First, the deprecation of third-party cookies and increasing platform privacy restrictions have made the passive data collection that once powered personalization harder to execute at scale. Second, AI personalization systems are only as good as the data they're trained on - and zero-party data provides a uniquely high-quality signal because it reflects stated intent rather than inferred behavior.

For Shopify brands, building a zero-party data strategy means designing collection moments that feel valuable to the customer - a quiz that genuinely helps them find the right product, a preference center that lets them control what communications they receive - rather than data extraction exercises. When customers understand that sharing information leads to a better experience, collection rates are high and the data quality is exceptional. Platforms like Klaviyo, Typeform, and Octane AI make zero-party data collection and activation accessible for brands at every stage of growth.