WHAT IS A COOKIE?
A cookie is a piece of data that is stored by a website within an internet browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. This data is then sent back to the same website by the browser. Cookies act as a reliable device for websites to remember things that an internet browser has done in the past – this includes clicking particular buttons, log in details, or having read pages on that site previously.
Typically, a cookie contains information such as the domain from which the cookie has come from, a value which is usually a random unique number as an identifier and the lifetime (expiry) of the cookie.
WHAT WILL A COOKIE DO FOR ME?
Almost every website that offers advanced features, such as online ordering, utilises cookies. We use cookies to keep track of items within your shopping basket. Each website utilises unique cookies. Essentially this means that the cookies used by one site cannot be used by another.
We also use Google Analytics to help us improve your future experience of the site. This allow us to see which pages on our site are the most popular, allowing us to ensure that any content on these pages is kept up to date as a priority. To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, please visit Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
TURNING OFF, DISALLOWING, DISABLING OR DELETING COOKIES
The majority of internet browsers will provide an option to disallow or block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. You can usually find out how to do this in the help menu of your browser.
Cookies can also be deleted by using your internet browser – however make sure to disallow cookies first, otherwise they will be reapplied the next time you visit a website.
Please be aware that if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our site.
WHAT COOKIES DO WE USE?
We use the following cookies:
- Strictly necessary cookies. These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website, use a shopping cart or make use of e-billing services.
- Analytical/performance cookies. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.
- Functionality cookies. These are used to recognise you when you return to our website. This enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).
- Targeting cookies. These cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.
Please note that third parties (including, for example, advertising networks and providers of external services like web traffic analysis services) may also use cookies, over which we have no control. These cookies are likely to be analytical/performance cookies or targeting cookies.
If you want to know more about how cookies work and how to manage or delete them, visit the World Wide Web Consortium’s website (or, for third party cookies, visit http://www.youronlinechoices.com/
