Cookies are small packets of data that websites save to your computer when you use them. These cookies help websites work effectively on your device. Also, cookies help websites with features which may range from vital functionality to performance or content. They provide various results such as autofill forms, tailored content displayed for every user or some essentials for accessing the advanced parts of the website. Therefore, it is a common question – does Shopify use cookies for all of their users.

Does Shopify use cookies?

Cookies are necessary for your browser to navigate through Shopify’s web page, access information, etc. Because of that, it is obvious why would Shopify use cookies. They use both user-input cookies as well as functional cookies to effectively provide their services.

What kind of cookies does Shopify use?

User input cookies are cookies that store data from user form input. However, these are sessional and are removed from your computer once you close the browser. On the other hand, Shopify uses cookies that remember the information you’ve provided or the choices you have made. These are called functional cookies. Functional cookies help Shopify tailor the website to every user accordingly. They remember login credentials, language selections, browsing choices etc.

Types of functional cookies in Shopify:

Authentication cookies

Authentication cookies are the reason you don’t have to authenticate every time you send a request to a website. To explain in detail, every HTTP request made is stateless. This means every page is considered as standalone. Without authentication cookies you would have to log in everytime you go to a link on a website. Authentication cookies remember your details and prevent that hassle for you.

Security cookies

These cookies are closely linked to authentication cookies. Security cookies detect repeated authentication abuses in a short amount of time. This means it notices continuous failed login attempts, failing security check, etc. This provides a layer of security to your account, without which, account theft would be easier.

Multimedia player session cookies

Multimedia player session cookies are related to audio and video playback. These are cookies that are responsible for storing data that lets you continue a video or audio on the website from the point where you left off before closing your browser. These cookies remember data required to load the file quickly, such as video quality, buffer parameters, playback speed, frame rate, etc. This allows you to continue the audio or video uninterrupted when you reopen the browser.

UI customization cookies

UI (User Interface) customization cookies do exactly what the name suggests. They store data regarding any customization the user made to the webpage. Customizations can be things like font size, resolution, language selection or even specific page layouts. The cookie remembers these selections and helps load the same data every time you access the website.

Analytic cookies

Shopify use cookies that also gather information on how often or how the website is used. They have a name – analytic cookies. These cookies follow the GDPR and collect data only for statistical purposes. There is no way for the data to be linked back to you as a user. They can be either first-party or third-party.

First-party analytics cookies

Shopify use first-party analytics cookies to monitor traffic. For example, what words you are searching for the most. Shopify are not using them to collect user data, but just statistics that help in improving the website.

Third-party analytics cookies

Third-party analytics cookies are provided by google analytics and other such third parties. These provide information on what the users have searched before reaching the website and similar information.

Other cookies

Finally, Shopify use cookies that act as plugins for advertisements, social media, etc. These let the website display advertisements or plugins to link to various social media channels such as facebook, twitter, etc.