What is zero-party data?

Zero-party data is data that a customer voluntarily shares with a business. It can include the customer’s purchase intentions, communication preferences, personal context or how the individual wants the brand to recognize them. The term, coined by Forrester Research refers to data that has been proactively given to businesses by their customers or prospects. 

The difference between first-party data and zero-party data is that first-party data involves data from observation i.e user behaviour based on how customers interact across a company’s website or app, their clicks, their purchase history, the transactions they make and any form of behavioural data.

Zero-party data leaves no part for inference as it is information that consumers willingly share through on-site forms, surveys, feedback, and other interaction. Both first-party data and zero-party data will be key for marketing campaigns as businesses eventually move away from cookies and similar tracking technologies.