Opt-out rates on cookies are increasing rapidly and countries/regions across the world now heavily dictate and regulate how businesses collect, handle, and share their customer’s data.

At Leaf, we’re seeing an average of between 30% and 50% opt-out rate, dependent on the cookie banner setup. Cookies were never perfect. Cookie match rates (used by DMPs and DSPs to sync user data) range as low as 40-60%, leading to considerable amounts of mistargeting and wasted ad budget. And since cookies are device-based, it’s been baked into the process from the start that companies would get a disjointed and incomplete understanding of the customer journey across different interfaces and browsers.

Your quick fix for fighting the lack of granularity is first-party data; a combination of server-side tracking, and laser-focused ad creatives based on your first-party understanding of your core customer profile. But despite the cookie apocalypse, there’s still an opportunity in effectively use the cookie banners themselves.

Although it may seem like an extra chore, it is an excellent opportunity to do something creative with this piece of mandatory page real estate, and this pro-activity around a privacy-first treatment of your customers, can also engender brand trust and improve customer lifetime value. At present, you’re required by law (in the UK & EU at least) to opt customers out of all non-essential cookies by default and you cannot fire your pixel/tags unless people actively opt into these cookies. If you don’t have an interruptive cookie banner you’re losing a huge amount of data, and the potential for retargeting audiences.

Ultimately your digital media spend is being spent less efficiently because visitors to your site don’t have to do anything, you can’t fire your cookies and less data is being sent to your ad and analytics platforms. Stores like Levi and GoCompare have great examples of  ‘interruptive’ cookie banners. This is now very common amongst eComm stores selling within the UK & EU and ensures that people actually do something with the cookies – either ‘accept’, which most will do if your banner is set up properly, or ‘manage’, which most people don’t do because of the effort it takes. Humans are lazy and time-poor, especially when shopping online.

Having an optimal setup for your cookie banner is critically important for the success of your digital campaigns, whilst also ensuring you stay within the legal parameters of the UK and EU’s data privacy laws.

Below are our top 5 choices for cookie & GDPR apps on Shopify that can help ensure you’re getting the most from your cookies, in the most compliant way:

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1. One Trust: CookiePro

CookiePro by One Trust is arguably the most comprehensive GDPR & Cookie banner out there and is used by over 350,000 websites. CookiePro syncs perfectly with Shopify and many other website builders and ​​can scan your website to easily generate a geo-targeted cookie banner, preference centre, and cookie policy, all based on location. 

This is what we love about Reviews.io:

• Can auto-correct to over 250 different languages.
• Over 350,000 websites use it.
• Monthly updates to ensure it’s always up to date with the latest laws.
• 24/7 customer support.
• 31+ million categorised cookies.
• Free account options.
• In-built website optimisation and analytics.

Pricing:

• Free Tier – $0/pm
• Bottom Tier – $10/pm
• Mid Tier – $30/pm
• Top Tier – $44/pm

You can learn more about CookiePro here.

2. GDPR cookie bar +ePrivacy page

Reconvert’s GDPR Cookie Bar +ePrivacy Page offers two important features to ensure you are compliant with the GDPR. First, elegantly informs visitors that your store uses cookies based on your policy and gives them the option to consent and even select their preferences. Second, gives your customers a central page to manage their GDPR consent and their rights for their personal data. 

This is what we love about Trustpilot:

• Auto-optimises based on geolocation for EU, California or Brazil.
• Available in over 180 languages with a built-in language detector.
• Customisable, allowing you to optimise the style of the banner to fit your brand.
• Monitoring and management of all data from a statistical dashboard

Pricing:

• Free Tier – $0/pm
• Bottom Tier – $6.99/pm
• Mid Tier – $14.99/pm
• Top Tier – $29.99/pm

You can learn more about Reconvert’s Cookie Banner here.

3. Ultimate GDPR EU Cookie Banner

The Ultimate GDPR EU Cookie Banner app provides free and fully customisable banners that are super easy to instal and come with a vast range of vibrancy, allowing for both fun and sleek designs that optimise for mobile perfectly.

Here’s what we love about Ultimate:

• Set up the app in 1 click and feature a cookie consent banner in your store today. Works with all Shopify themes and layouts.
• Use complete design control to perfectly match the cookie banner with your brand’s design. Change colours, fonts, texts and layouts.
• Zero hidden fees whatsoever.
• You can customise the cookie bar without any technical experience using their intuitive what-you-see-is-what-you-get settings.

 Pricing:

• Free

 You can learn more about Ultimate here.

4. Booster: EU Cookie Bar GDPR

 A fast and compatible user-friendly EU consent banner built exclusively for Shopify. Booster is designed to make cookie banners as easy as possible for you. This app doesn’t provide quite the same flair as some others, but if you’re looking for something simple and to the point, look no further.

 This is what we love about Booster:

• Most installed and used GDPR banners on the Shopify app store
• Cookie consent bar CSS optimised for responsive designs
• Use complete design control to perfectly match the cookie banner with your brand’s design. Change colours, fonts, texts and layouts.
• Option to automatically hide banner with ease.
• Simple & quick set-up.
• Minimalist and simple design.

Pricing:

• Free 

You can learn more about Booster here.

5. Cookie Consent by Appify

Appify’s Cookie Consent offers something most other apps don’t, graphics. Although many of the other apps provide customisation, Appify takes it to another level with the implementation of graphics, adding more layers and opportunities for creativity with the banner. However, where this app falls short is the fact you only get six options with the free version.

Here’s what we love about Cooke Consent:

• Uses graphics to add more flair and customisability to the apps.
• Simple and responsive set-up.
• Opportunity to create very creative and innovative cookie banners that truly stand out compared to other options.
• Six free variants to play with.

Pricing:

• Free – Six options
• Unlimited – $0.99/pm

You can learn more about Cookie Consent here. 

So, to conclude, there are tons of great apps out there that allow you to navigate the issues of GDPR consent and Cookie Policies. Although often quite similar, each app offers something different in terms of analytics, affordability, customisation and integration features. While some apps make it easy for you to simply plug and play, others offer you more in-depth data analysis, while others provide you with the ability to better tailor the design and customer journey of the banner. By installing some of these simple apps you can ensure your eCommerce store is law compliant, while also optimising your data collection or your aesthetic design for your website.