For years, brands depended on a web of cookies, trackers and third-party signals to understand consumers. That era is ending fast. With sweeping privacy regulations, platform restrictions and rising consumer suspicion of intrusive ads, first party customer data has become the most valuable asset in marketing. Companies across India and the world are racing to build what industry leaders are calling a first party data moat, a defensive and offensive strategy that will define competitiveness through 2026.
This shift is no longer theoretical. It is visible in boardrooms, marketing budgets, tech roadmaps and policy discussions. Indian companies in banking, retail, e-commerce and D2C are accelerating their data collection practices through loyalty programs, super apps, AI driven recommendation engines and revamped CRM systems. Global giants in media, hospitality and tech are similarly fortifying their customer data estates to prepare for the post cookie world.
The gold rush is underway because the old system is crumbling. Privacy laws such as Europe’s GDPR, India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act and Apple’s app tracking limitations have fundamentally weakened third party tracking. Google is preparing to sunset third party cookies on Chrome. A global study of senior marketers recently found that 71 percent of brands, agencies and publishers plan to increase investment in first party data in the next year. The same study shows companies increasing first party data budgets by an average of 35 percent, signalling a dramatic pivot that is happening faster than expected.
In India, this shift is even more intense. As DPDP rules begin rolling out with stricter penalties and clearer obligations, companies are being forced to rethink every aspect of data collection, storage and activation. The law requires companies to minimise what they collect, state the purpose clearly and offer consumers the right to opt out. Marketers say this increases cost and complexity, but it also pushes the system toward higher quality data. A national survey of advertisers found that privacy laws and cookie deprecation are now among the top three challenges for Indian marketers. The same survey highlights that distrust in digital advertising is rising because users feel overwhelmed by opaque tracking practices.
But the companies with the strongest first party data foundations are not slowing down. They are doubling investment.
HDFC Bank’s Group CMO Ravi Santhanam says the bank is fortunate to have access to deep, high-quality first party data through its customer relationships. He explains that the bank uses spending patterns, behavioural insights and location signals to drive precise audience segmentation and personalised communication. Private banks across India report similar strategies as they move towards more granular, data led marketing.
Retailers are even more aggressive. Reliance Retail has one of the largest data lakes in India, collecting transaction, loyalty and behavioural signals across digital and physical stores. Reliance executives have said publicly that training AI models on its massive first party data sets allows the company to personalise offers at scale in ways competitors without such data pools cannot. In a world where outside signals disappear, a large first party data estate becomes a competitive fortress.
Beauty and fashion brands are building their own moats too. Nykaa recently launched an AI based skin scan feature that converts selfies into structured skin profiles. This gives the company permission led, high value data that improves recommendations and retention. D2C brands across India are using similar tactics. They are treating email sign ups, purchase history, app activity and loyalty program interactions as strategic inputs for campaigns and product development. Many are now investing in CDPs, real time analytics tools and deeper CRM integrations to create a single view of the customer.
Tata Group has taken a bold approach by consolidating customer data across its companies through the Tata Neu super app. At launch, some users noticed that their personal details were already populated in the app because Tata was able to unify data from its various retail, hospitality and e commerce businesses. While the move raised privacy concerns among critics, from a marketing perspective this unified data strategy shows how conglomerates can build powerful first party data ecosystems under a single digital umbrella.
Globally, this movement is accelerating at the same speed. Media houses like The New York Times, technology players, and retail brands in the United States and Europe are pouring capital into their own data platforms. Leading marketers have publicly stated that building a high quality customer data set is now central to long term strategy. Many global advertisers are shifting budgets from open auction programmatic buys to direct deals with publishers, where first party data and contextual signals are more reliable.
Meanwhile, the impact of privacy rules is becoming unavoidable. India’s DPDP Act has clear guidelines that require businesses to minimise unnecessary data capture, explain its use, and offer straightforward opt outs. Penalties for violations can reach up to five percent of a company’s turnover. Executives say this regulatory environment forces brands to clean up bad data practices and make privacy central to strategy. Many companies are preparing dedicated consent management layers, auditing their trackers and rewriting privacy notices.
Marketers agree that the future belongs to companies that can collect data with genuine user consent and demonstrate value in return. Razorpay’s leadership has warned that companies must use data responsibly and make privacy part of product design rather than an afterthought. Indian consumers, they argue, will reward companies that are transparent and punish those that do not respect boundaries.
Still, the market is in transition. Research among Indian businesses shows that 73 percent still rely on a mix of first party and third party data for marketing. This is largely because many companies have not finished updating their systems. They do not yet have mature loyalty frameworks, CDPs or cross channel identity graphs. But this dependency is expected to shrink sharply as the DPDP Act and global platform policies get fully enforced.
The economics are becoming clearer too. As cookies fade and user level tracking diminishes, ad inventory becomes less precise and often more expensive. Industry analysts estimate that CPMs for high quality, consented audiences will rise. Brands with rich first party data sets will gain a cost advantage because they will depend less on external data brokers and platform signals. Companies that delay investment will find themselves paying more for less targeted media.
This is why the year 2026 is being framed as a decisive moment. By then, full enforcement of India’s DPDP Act will be in place. Google is expected to complete its transition away from third party cookies. Apple is tightening tracking rules further. And global brands will have matured their privacy led data practices enough to drive real impact.
Consulting firms forecast that companies will increase spending on mid funnel and bottom funnel marketing built directly on first party data. They expect personalisation engines, loyalty networks, customer analytics platforms and AI driven modelling to become essential investments across BFSI, retail, FMCG, travel and e commerce.
Put simply, the companies that are building a first party data moat today are positioning themselves as the winners of tomorrow. Those who fall behind will struggle with compliance costs, rising media inflation and the inability to measure campaign effectiveness accurately.
The race is already shaping new behaviours. Marketers are prioritising zero party data collection through interactive quizzes, preference centers and value exchanges. Brands are redesigning loyalty programs to collect consent driven information. Publishers are creating login walls to secure reader data. Retailers are launching membership programs and private label incentives to gather richer insights. Even startups are building data practices early in their lifecycle rather than treating data as an operational byproduct.
The idea of a first party data moat is becoming the new marketing worldview. It is a defensive shield against regulatory shocks and a growth engine for personalisation at scale. It helps brands reduce waste, improve ROI and run cleaner acquisition and retention programs. Most importantly, it realigns marketing with trust, consent and transparency.
As one senior strategist summarised it, first party data is no longer a side project. It is the new infrastructure of marketing. In a privacy first world, it is the only moat that matters.
Disclaimer: All data points and statistics are attributed to published research studies and verified market research. All quotes are either sourced directly or attributed to public statements.
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