Shopify Collabs

Overview

Shopify Collabs is an influencer and creator partnership platform that integrates into Shopify storefronts to power affiliate marketing programs. When detected on a site, its scripts track referral traffic from creator content, attribute sales to specific influencer partnerships, and manage commission calculations. It functions as an affiliate tracking system embedded within the Shopify ecosystem.

What This Script Does

Shopify Collabs loads scripts on product and landing pages to capture affiliate referral data when visitors arrive from creator-shared links. The system attributes the visitor's session and any subsequent purchases to the referring creator for commission payouts.

Key cookies set:

• Affiliate referral cookies that store the referring creator's ID and the timestamp of the referral click. These persist for the attribution window configured by the merchant (commonly 30 days) to credit the creator if the visitor returns and purchases later.
• Standard Shopify session and visitor cookies (_shopify_s, _shopify_y) are shared with the broader Shopify platform.
• UTM and referral parameters from creator links are captured and stored for attribution.

The scripts contact Shopify's infrastructure to record referral events and validate affiliate links. When a purchase is completed, the checkout flow checks for active affiliate attributions and calculates commissions based on the merchant's program rules.

Data collected includes: the referring creator's identifier, the products viewed and purchased through referral links, order values, and referral source URLs. This data is used to generate commission reports for the merchant and the creators.

Consent & Compliance

Shopify Collabs operates in the marketing category. Affiliate tracking is a form of marketing attribution — it tracks the effectiveness of influencer marketing campaigns and attributes sales to promotional activity.

Under the GDPR, the affiliate referral cookies store tracking identifiers that link visitor behavior to marketing campaigns. These cookies serve marketing attribution purposes and are not strictly necessary for the visitor to browse or purchase from the storefront. Consent is required as the lawful basis for this processing.

The ePrivacy Directive requires consent for affiliate tracking cookies. A cookie that persists for 30 days to attribute a future purchase to a marketing referral is clearly not strictly necessary for the e-commerce service and falls outside the exemption.

Under CCPA/CPRA, the referral tracking and sales attribution data constitutes personal information used for marketing purposes. If creator affiliate data is shared with influencers or third-party affiliate networks, this may constitute "sharing" of personal information.

Should You Block This Without Consent?

Yes. Shopify Collabs sets affiliate tracking cookies for marketing attribution purposes. These cookies are not required for the storefront's core e-commerce functionality and should be blocked until the visitor provides consent.