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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
ServiceShopify
ProviderShopify Inc.
CategoryMarketing / Advertising
Duration30 minutes
Consent RequiredYes — 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

  1. Block it by default — configure your Consent Management Platform (CMP) or tag manager to prevent Shopify from loading until the user accepts marketing cookies.
  2. Include it in your consent categories — map it to the "Marketing / Advertising" category in your CMP configuration.
  3. List it in your cookie policy — document the cookie name, purpose, provider (Shopify Inc.), and expiry (30 minutes).
  4. Sign a DPA — ensure you have a Data Processing Agreement with Shopify Inc. covering their use of data collected via this cookie.
  5. Verify it works — in an incognito browser, reject cookies and confirm _shopify_sa_t is not set.

Other Shopify Cookies

CookieCategoryDuration
_shopify_yAnalytics1 year
_shopify_sAnalytics30 minutes
_shopify_sa_pMarketing / Advertising30 minutes
_shopify_fsAnalytics1 year
cartStrictly Necessary2 weeks
secure_customer_sigStrictly Necessary1 year
_orig_referrerAnalytics2 weeks
_landing_pageAnalytics2 weeks

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