When we launched Solve, we set out to build a data platform that empowers eCommerce businesses to make informed, impactful decisions. We’ve been lucky to work with contagiously ambitious founders at brands like Crown Affair, Cariuma, and Ramy Brook — helping them accelerate growth like never before.

The best part has been building those valuable relationships — with clients, investors, and partners alike — and having you along for the ride. 

Solve’s data expertise is both in-house and industry-wide

The past few months have been a rollercoaster for the entire eCom industry. From analyzing Apple’s new policies under Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) to migrating to Google Analytics 4, the Solve team has been hard at work to ensure our clients experience smooth scaling through the disruptive landscape. Our core team continues to: 

• Help customers make the most of Solve’s datastore
• Gain a solid grasp of the most pressing data ownership issues
• Build and ship features to solve these issues — quickly

In addition to our usual data engineering questions, we’ve focused on tackling industry-wide challenges — while maintaining a tailored approach for every client.

As the market constantly shifts, we know the efficiency of data solutions can wane. That’s why Solve spent Q2 with our heads down, investigating three of the most pressing industry questions, so we could keep our clients informed, growth-positive, and competitive. Let’s unpack them.

Focus #1: Helping eCom teams navigate Apple’s privacy updates

In a bold move this April, Apple changed its Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) to further restrict the activity of third-party cookies.

The update detects CNAME cloaking and IP address cloaking — two alternative and (formerly) viable user tracking methods. While cookies set with these methods still go on record, their new lifetime is only 7 days, erasing up to 40% of the insights marketers collect per customer. 

Apple’s decision has understandably caused major disruption for marketers, further decreasing data visibility around marketing spend and ROI. Our team is continuing to track these changes.

For instance, Solve is continually comparing expected outcomes for users’ data vs. the actual results they observe to give a true picture of the impact. As a result, brands can continue to extend and restore customer browsing behavior with Solve’s platform  — and reduce the impact of ITP changes. Data ownership and collection continues to deliver resilience to market changes regardless of industry-wide constraints.

Focus #2: Exploring how tech vendors impact data visibility

To minimize the impact of Apple’s ITP, keeping a tight rein on the data flows you can control is vital. However, many brands lack the deep industry knowledge to do so. That’s where a trusted first-party tool comes in, with an expert team providing unbiased advice. We have been thrilled to be this partner for our customers, helping them unpack anything from engineering issues to business analytics.

Recently, these interactions have focused on one question: “Is this vendor right for us?” Your brand’s tech stack can elevate the customer experience with the snap of a finger. Yet, its impact on your data ownership is often just as big. One of the most common customer concerns is how vendors interact with their data, which is obscured by high attribution and complex toolkits. 

Thanks to our clients’ Solve dashboards, we’re able to trace and audit their data streams — catching reporting errors or faulty processes. This way, we can effectively flag unreliable platforms and identify key features for Solve’s next update.

Focus #3: Empowering brands to master their raw data

When we launched Solve, we aimed to provide a centralized platform for raw, first-party data to unlock hidden business insights.

Today, that goal has evolved into empowering customers to achieve mastery of their data. After all, while every eCom brand seeks a single source of truth, transitioning from standard data silos to Solve can often cause confusion about existing data streams. Some topics that required our expertise recently included:

• “How do I make sense of my data?” 
• “How can I find the origin of this data flow?” 
• “How can I use this data to better serve and convert customers?” 

Getting to answer these has not only been a pleasure for our team, but also a sign of Solve’s impact. As some of our customers mention, “I never knew there was so much data to dive into.”

A look ahead: Accessible, reliable eCom data becomes the norm

Looking forward, Solve will be focusing our efforts on three key elements to make full-fledged data ownership the eCom industry standard: 

1. Simplifying data representation — As the Solve team likes to say, “If you can see it, you can prove it.” This is why we’re doubling down on how to unify, distill, and untangle key metrics that boost data reliability and inform accurate decision-making.
   
2. Navigating digital shifts — As we continue to track the impact of Apple’s ITP, one of our main priorities remains creating a detailed strategy that can weather any industry challenge and evolution while bolstering brands’ confidence.
   
3. Stronger ad integrations — Our team is hard at work to roll out integrations across multiple ad platforms, providing a trustworthy view of all of your marketing financials. 

Want to be part of Solve’s journey? Get in touch with our team or follow us to ensure you never miss feature rollouts, quarterly updates, and more.