This Cookie Policy explains how we use “cookies” and similar technologies on our website at https://www.smelocal.co.uk/ and in our emails (“The Site”). It is meant to assist you with your interactions on the Site and communications with us. Please read the Cookie Policy carefully. You should also read this cookie notice in conjunction with our terms of use. We may occasionally revise our cookie policy. This could be for a number of reasons, such as to mirror changes in the law or how we conduct business or accommodate a change in cookie use. We advise that you check here for any changes to our Cookie Policy frequently.
Website – Pixels and Cookies
How does our Site collect, use, and store any other personal data?
Our Site uses cookies and similar technologies (such as tracking pixels) to help improve your experience and power our digital marketing campaigns.
What are cookies and similar technologies?
Our Site uses cookies – these are small data files on your computer or mobile device that we store on your browser or your hard drive if you agree which help you avoid having to re-enter information again when you visit our site, speed up site searches and help us understand how customers are using our Site so we can improve it in future. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. There are other similar technologies, such as scripts, tracking pixels and plugins which can record information such as the time, location and operating system of a device used to read an email or information on our website. We do not use cookies to collect sensitive information such as payment details and passwords. By using our Site, you consent to our use of cookies and similar technologies as detailed below. If you do not consent to their use, please disable them (using your browser and/or our Preference Centre or stop using our site. We may also refer you to other websites that are not operated by us. Where you follow links from our Site to another website, that website may place different cookies on your device. You should review the applicable privacy/cookies information in the third party’s terms of use/terms of service. Some applications, such as your browser, also store cookies on your device. When you sign into Google Chrome, you’re not using a Google account (see the section “What about Google Chrome cookies?” below). The third-party cookies have their own management settings, so you will need to configure these in the applications themselves. For more information on cookies and related technologies, visit All About Cookies. In the remainder of this policy, we will use the terms “cookie,” “cookies,” & “cookie technologies,” and similar terms to refer to the previously described technologies.
How long do cookies last?
All cookies expire after a period of time determined by the type of cookie.
Session cookies: These are non-persistent cookies, which are created while you are using the browser and then erased when you close the browser.
Persistent cookies: These cookies are created to keep for a particular time period, which depends on which program installs the cookie. Persistent cookies stay in your browser until the expiration date you specify, or you delete them yourself.
Why are they used?
Cookies are used to ensure we can deliver a high-quality, convenient online shopping experience. They are also used to monitor customer interactions with our site which allows us to improve the relevance of marketing communications and ensure our site is meeting the needs of our customers. Our Site uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our Site. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our Site and also allows us to improve our site.
There are 5 main types of cookie:
Essential cookies: These cookies allow you to use the basic functionality of our Site. For example, browsing our products, ordering and paying for items, checking your account information and viewing your order history. These cookies also collect personally identifiable information that you provide to us via forms (such as your name, address, phone number and email address). This information is used to support us in troubleshooting issues that may have impacted your shopping experience.
Performance or Analytics cookies: These cookies allow us to get to know how you use our Site. They’re used to analyse visitor information such as usage and visitor numbers, so they help us to see how effective our advertising is and understand what you like. We also use this information to help improve our Site, make our marketing more relevant and improve your experience. The data used for these cookies is aggregated and anonymised, which means that we can’t identify you as an individual. In other words, your personal data is not used for these cookies.
Functionality cookies (e.g. Live Chat): These ones allow us to provide additional functionalities to the Site, and will retain some settings information. While they’re not essential for the functionality of our site, they do enable extra features that should make your shopping experience even better.
Targeting or Advertising cookies: We also use cookies to track your interest in our products. We may use these to understand what most appeals to you, so we can make our offers as appropriate as possible. Browsing behaviour is also used to create relevant banner advertising, with product recommendations that we believe best relate to the items you viewed on our Site. These banners are then served across other websites that you may visit, typically news sites, video sites and blogs. This process is called behavioural advertising and, although the adverts are individually tailored to you, all cookie data is anonymised and stored temporarily. Additionally, all banners of this type feature an ‘i’ icon that provides more information from each advertising network and instructions on how to opt out. We also use the browsing behaviour data to create personal product recommendations on our Site, our marketing emails and in our printed catalogue.
Is consent required to use cookies?
Essential Cookies – We do not need your consent to store and access essential cookies on your device, although you can still block or delete them (see below).
Other (“non-essential”) Cookies – We may only store and access non-essential cookies on your device with your permission. You are not obliged to give consent to our use of non-essential cookies. If you do give your consent and then change your mind, you can still delete any cookies that have already been placed (see below).
To find out which individual cookies we use on our Site, and the purposes for which they are used, please visit our Cookie Preference Centre, which also allows you to manage your cookie consent preferences whenever you wish.
How do I refuse, block and delete cookies?
In order to use certain areas of our site, you will need to allow some essential or functional cookies. If you block or subsequently delete those cookies, your ability to access certain areas of our site may be affected.
You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, 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.
Your options for managing your cookie preferences are set out below:
Through the Cookie banner
When you access our Site, we will ask you to provide consent for our use of non-essential cookies. We may repeat this request on subsequent visits to our Site, for example if you delete cookies from your browser or we need to request new consents from you. When we seek your consent, you will be able to provide consent for all non-essential cookies that we would like to use.
Where cookies are essential to the operation of our Site, we can use these without your consent.
Using your browser settings or other tools
You can control the use of cookies on our site by deselecting the “allow cookies” on your browser. Learn more about cookie management and blocking and deleting cookies for many different browsers via All About Cookies.
Some cookies are set by third-party web browsers or applications that use the Site (see “What about Google Chrome’s cookies?”). We cannot exert control on this, and you will have to use the relevant third-party application to control the cookies.
If you do not want to be tracked by Google Analytics, you can install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on (but this will only work on certain browsers). For more information on Google Analytics and how they use cookies, please see the cookie statement on Google’s privacy policy.
What about Google Chrome cookies?
When you access the Site via Google applications such as Google Chrome, Google may collect user information for the purpose of Google serving personalised advertising across your devices. Google is able place these advertising cookies on the devices used by visitors to the Site because we use Google services to run the Site. However these cookies are dropped for Google’s own purposes and as such we do not have any control over how or when they are dropped. You will need to opt out of receiving these cookies via your Google settings. For further information about these cookies please see https://policies.google.com/technologies/types?hl=en-US. Please note that other browsers may use similar tools.
What technologies do we use in emails?
Emails you receive from us may contain cookies or similar technologies like tracking pixels. Cookies in our emails do a similar job to cookies on our Site. These technologies tell us if you open an email and help us understand how you interact with its content. Once you click on an email that contains a cookie, your contact information may subsequently be cross-referenced to the source email and/or the relevant cookie. If you have enabled images, cookies may be set on your computer or mobile device. Cookies will also be set if you click on any link within the email. If you open one of our emails, triggering a cookie, you can prevent further use of cookies in that email by closing it without downloading any of the content or clicking on any of the links.
