First-party data is data a company collects directly from its customers or audience, typically through transactional data (such as in-house e-commerce data).
Example: Company X’s first-party data includes its CRM and customer loyalty program data. First-party data is highly valuable because it is often more accurate than other data types, and is owned/controlled by the company. Technically, one could argue that a company that directly surveys its own customers is collecting 1st party data; however, in practice, most 1st party data comes from transactional data (such as sales data), not self-reporting (such as surveys).
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