Sprawl, not one big system

Five ecommerce-specific rules

• Consent is an asset: track lawful basis per channel. A smaller clean list outperforms a large contaminated one.
• Pixels are data sharing: Meta CAPI and Google Enhanced Conversions need privacy notice coverage and real consent gating.
• Cross-border by default: US tools need valid transfer mechanisms logged per system.
• Retention has a revenue dimension: stale records poison LTV, repeat rates and cohort maths.
• Classify before you connect AI: an LLM with Shopify access inherits every customer record in it.