Marketing / AdvertisingConsent required
What is the _shopify_sa_t Cookie?
Set by Shopify (Shopify Inc.). Expires after 30 minutes.
Purpose
Marketing analytics for Shopify. Tracks which traffic source referred the visitor for conversion attribution.
Cookie Details
| Cookie Name | _shopify_sa_t |
| Service | Shopify |
| Provider | Shopify Inc. |
| Category | Marketing / Advertising |
| Duration | 30 minutes |
| Consent Required | Yes — requires explicit opt-in |
Category: Marketing / Advertising
Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites to display relevant advertisements. Consent is required under GDPR.
GDPR Requirements
Under GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive, the _shopify_sa_t cookie requires explicit user consent before it can be set. This means:
- The cookie must not be set when a user first visits your site — not even for a fraction of a second
- A consent banner must be displayed, and the user must actively accept analytics/marketing cookies
- If the user rejects or ignores the banner, this cookie must remain blocked
- The cookie must be listed in your cookie policy with its name, purpose, and retention period
- Users must be able to withdraw consent at any time, which must also remove or invalidate this cookie
How to Handle This Cookie
- Block it by default — configure your Consent Management Platform (CMP) or tag manager to prevent Shopify from loading until the user accepts marketing cookies.
- Include it in your consent categories — map it to the "Marketing / Advertising" category in your CMP configuration.
- List it in your cookie policy — document the cookie name, purpose, provider (Shopify Inc.), and expiry (30 minutes).
- Sign a DPA — ensure you have a Data Processing Agreement with Shopify Inc. covering their use of data collected via this cookie.
- Verify it works — in an incognito browser, reject cookies and confirm
_shopify_sa_tis not set.
Other Shopify Cookies
| Cookie | Category | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| _shopify_y | Analytics | 1 year |
| _shopify_s | Analytics | 30 minutes |
| _shopify_sa_p | Marketing / Advertising | 30 minutes |
| _shopify_fs | Analytics | 1 year |
| cart | Strictly Necessary | 2 weeks |
| secure_customer_sig | Strictly Necessary | 1 year |
| _orig_referrer | Analytics | 2 weeks |
| _landing_page | Analytics | 2 weeks |
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