If you've ever visited a website, you've encountered cookies without realizing it. Cookies are small text files sent by a website to your device to improve your online experience through personalization, convenience, and speed. While there are many kinds of cookies out there, the two predominant types are essential and non-essential cookies. Regulators distinguish between these two types of cookies since essential cookies are required for the primary functionality of the website, and optional non-essential cookies help enhance a user's experience. As such, you'll need to know the difference between these two cookie types, especially when considering cookie consent banner requirements↗. » Are GA cookies GDPR compliant? Discover how to make GA cookies GDPR compliant↗ Essential Cookies The cookies below are considered essential, which means that a website doesn't need to receive a visitor's consent to use them. eCommerce stores will benefit from leveraging such cookies for user experience improvement and metrics gathering.
1. First-Party Cookies
First-party cookies form the backbone of a website, supporting everything from account logins to eCommerce checkouts. Only the website visited places and reads these cookies. For example, first-party cookies remember a user when they navigate to the payment gateway to complete billing. It's important to know the difference between first and third-party cookies↗ and what they mean for regulatory compliance.
2. Session Cookies
Have you ever wondered how an eCommerce website remembers what you added to your shopping cart? That's how session cookies improve user experience by remembering certain actions a visitor has taken on the current visit. Session cookies are deleted after a visitor navigates away from the website, although some information collected by session cookies may persist across sessions so a visitor can pick up where they left off. » Are session cookies exempt from GDPR? Understand the GDPR compliance of session cookies↗
3. Persistent/Permanent Cookies
Cookies that remain stored on a visitor's device are called persistent cookies. Even though these cookies are called permanent, most still have expiry dates. Persistent cookies are used for many purposes, including keeping a user logged in across visits, remembering the user's preferred language, and suggesting products based on past activity. Non-Essential Cookies Just because these cookies are termed "non-essential" doesn't mean they're not important. Non-essential cookies require user consent before the website can use them, but they're still vital to collecting information and advertising better.
4. Third-Party Cookies
In contrast to first-party cookies, third-party cookies are placed by one website and then follow a user as they visit other websites. The other websites visited can read the cookie to retrieve certain information about the user, such as what products they viewed previously, what kinds of websites they visited, and how they behave. Most advertising networks use these for personalized targeting, and thus they require cookie consent under GDPR↗. » Are third-party cookies being phased out by browsers? Discover how eCommerce sellers will be affected by the end of third-party cookies↗
5. Secure Cookies
Websites and visitor devices often need to transmit sensitive information to each other. This is where secure cookies come in. These cookies can only be sent across an encrypted connection to prevent anyone from intercepting and reading them. Carried information includes login details, billing information, and personal data. Remember that GDPR comes into play when transmitting personal data using cookies↗.
6. Flash Cookies
When a visitor's browser requests Adobe Flash content, a cookie is stored on their browser with information such as which content has been viewed, how long it was viewed, and how the visitor interacted with it (e.g. lowering the volume level). The use of flash cookies is frowned upon due to many Adobe Flash security flaws and concerns over privacy since advertising networks use them often.
7. Zombie Cookies
These cookies are controversial and are likely not compliant with data privacy regulations. Zombie cookies use various technologies such as Adobe Flash, JavaScript, and unique IDs to "resurrect" themselves after being deleted. Most of the time, these cookies are used to track users for targeted advertising purposes. eCommerce websites should avoid using such cookies unless they want to face regulatory consequences. Conclusion Cookie management may seem daunting, but investing some time into creating a clear and comprehensive cookie policy for your eCommerce website↗ is worth the effort. Because you want to be using non-essential cookies transparently, a detailed cookie consent banner is necessary to receive user consent. Take some time to educate yourself on cookie best practices, and you'll be boosting sales in no time. » Worried about being cookie compliant? Let PieEye↗ provide you with a cookie management solution
How Your eCommerce Platform Handles Cookies by Default
Your eCommerce platform comes with built-in cookie behavior you need to understand. Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce all set essential cookies automatically to run your store—things like session management, fraud detection, and checkout processing. These don't require consent.
However, many platforms also inject third-party tracking by default. Shopify includes Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel integration, both of which drop non-essential cookies. BigCommerce does similar things with native analytics. The key issue: your platform's default setup may already be tracking visitors without their permission.
Before you launch or audit your store, log into your admin panel and check what's actually enabled. Look for:
- Analytics integrations (Google Analytics 4, Segment, Amplitude)
- Advertising pixels (Meta, TikTok, Pinterest)
- Heatmap and session recording tools (Hotjar, Crazy Egg)
- Email marketing platforms (Klaviyo, Omnisend) that track behavioral data
Each of these fires cookies or similar tracking tech. Your cookie banner needs to accurately reflect what your platform—and the apps you've installed—actually do. Many brands discover mid-audit that they're running tracking they didn't realize was active.
Cookie Consent vs. Legal Compliance: What Actually Matters
Having a cookie banner doesn't make you compliant. A banner is just the first step. What matters to regulators—GDPR, CCPA, LGPD—is whether you're actually respecting user choice and handling their data properly.
This means:
- Rejecting consent must work. If someone clicks "Reject," non-essential cookies should not fire. Test this. Many brands fail here.
- Consent must be documented. You need proof of what the user agreed to and when. This matters if you face a data subject access request (DSAR) or a regulatory inquiry.
- Cookie lists must be accurate. Regulators increasingly check whether your published cookie inventory matches what your site actually uses. Audit your cookies quarterly.
- Legitimate interest requires documentation. Even if you don't use a banner for certain cookies, you need to document why you believe "legitimate interest" applies.
The gap between having a banner and being truly compliant is where most mid-market brands stumble. A banner is theater if your consent flow doesn't actually block tracking or if your cookie list is outdated.
Managing Cookies Across Your Marketing Stack
Your eCommerce brand likely uses multiple tools that each set their own cookies: email platforms like Klaviyo, customer data platforms, ad networks, and analytics. Coordinating consent across all of them is the real challenge.
Here's the practical problem: Klaviyo tracks behavioral data (clicks, purchases, browsing) to power email campaigns. Google Analytics tracks pageviews and conversions. Meta Pixel tracks conversions and site activity. Each tool has its own cookie requirements and expects data flow.
When a user opts out of non-essential cookies on your site, you need to:
- Block data flowing to ad networks (Meta, Google Ads, TikTok)
- Stop behavioral tracking in Klaviyo
- Disable analytics cookies in Google Analytics
- Prevent custom audience syncing
Many brands only disable Google Analytics and call it done. But Klaviyo, Facebook, and other platforms continue to track via their own methods. You need a strategy that tells these tools "this user said no."
A consent management platform solves this by creating a central point where user preferences are stored and communicated to all your vendors at once. When someone rejects non-essential cookies, the CMP blocks all downstream tracking automatically—not just one tool.
Without this automation, managing consent across 10+ tools is a manual, error-prone process that leaves you exposed to violations.
Running a Cookie Audit: What to Audit and How Often
You should audit your cookies at least twice a year. eCommerce brands add new apps, integrations, and tracking constantly—what was compliant six months ago might not be today.
Start with a cookie audit tool or manual inspection. Visit your store incognito, open browser developer tools, and check the Cookies section under Storage. Look for:
- Cookies you don't recognize (these often come from third-party apps or integrations)
- Cookies with long expiration dates (days, months, years ahead)
- Cookies set by vendors you've since removed (technical debt that needs cleanup)
Document each cookie's purpose, who sets it, and whether it requires consent. Cross-reference against your cookie policy and banner. If your banner says you use five analytics cookies but your audit finds eight, you have a compliance gap.
Pay special attention to:
- Retargeting pixels that may still fire even after an app is uninstalled
- Email platform tracking in newsletters (Klaviyo, ConvertKit, etc.)
- App script injection that adds cookies you didn't manually enable
- Legacy integrations from previous tools or platforms
After your audit, update your cookie policy, rebuild your consent banner to match reality, and document your findings. This becomes your compliance evidence if regulators ask what you're tracking.