This Cookie Policy forms part of our Privacy Policy which can be viewed here.
Our websites and apps use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about users’ activities, including browsing and purchasing behaviour. This includes information about pages viewed, products purchased and the customers’ journey around our apps and websites. Detailed information is set out in our Cookie Policy. We use the term ‘site’ to refer to websites and apps.
WHICH SITES DOES THIS POLICY RELATE TO?
This policy applies to all Marks and Spencer Plc (“M&S”) owned and operated sites, both in the UK and in the international territories in which we operate. This includes M&S owned web pages which refer a user to M&S branded products and services which are provided by third party organisations.
WHAT ARE COOKIES?
Cookies are small data files which are placed on your smart phone, tablet, laptop or other device when you use sites. They are used to ‘remember’ when the same device returns to a site, to track activity via the device, or to identify a user as having come from another site. Some cookies are used just for the duration of your visit (“session cookies”) and others for an extended period (“persistent cookies”).
M&S sites use cookies, and other similar technologies which also store or provide access to information stored in your devices including, web beacons, plug ins, APIs, and fingerprinting technologies which permit the identification and tracking of a device. For the purposes of this policy, we use the term “cookies” to include all technology that stores or accesses information on a user’s device, all of which are governed by the same legal rules.
CONSENT FOR USE OF COOKIES
In most cases, cookies cannot be deployed without consent. When you first enter our sites, you will be shown a pop-up cookie notification banner. The banner informs the user that the site uses cookies.
WHAT DO WE USE COOKIES FOR?
Essential cookie are those used by M&S to deliver and maintain on-line services, including providing basic site functionality, remembering your basket content, facilitating transactions and payments, fraud prevention, and maintaining and securing our sites.
Essential cookies used for these purposes are deployed automatically for all users as soon as they enter our sites. They are legally exempt from the requirement to gain users’ consent. If you wish to use our sites you cannot opt out of these cookies as they are an essential and integral feature.
Non-essential cookies
With your consent, we’ll also use what we call ‘non-essential’ cookies for the purposes set out below:
To enhance sites and services and to comply with contractual duties
1. To improve the quality of our services and develop new ones.
2. To enable special features such as widgets or embedded media files. These special features are not essential to the operation of the sites but are intended to enhance user experience. They also allow us to develop and test new site features.
3. To enable M&S to meet its contractual obligations to make payments to third parties when a product is purchased by someone who has visited our sites from a site operated by those parties.
Show personalised content based on your interests, preferences or location
We use these cookies to improve the way our sites and mobile apps work so that we can personalise your experience and show you content which is most relevant to you. For example, a product or service may only be available in a particular location and may be more relevant to you depending on where you are, or we might show you certain products or services that we believe are most relevant to you based on your previous browsing or purchasing behaviour.
Show personalised or generic adverts either on M&S or third-party sites
We also use cookies to help us deliver online advertising that we believe is most relevant to you on our sites and third-party sites, including on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or the search engine Google.
These types of cookies may collect information about your online attributes or behaviour, as well as your device identifier and/or IP address, the sites you arrived from and information about your browsing and purchase history or the content of your shopping basket. If you accept Advertising and Marketing cookies, your information will be shared with the third party sites if you have an account with them or use them. The third parties may incorporate the data into their information held about you and use it for personalisation of advertisements.
To help us to deliver online advertising that is relevant to you, we may also combine data we collect through cookies in the browser of your desktop computer or other devices with other data that we have collected, for example your purchases online and in store.
Deliver and measure the effectiveness of adverts, marketing and promotional communications
Some cookies can tell us if you have seen a specific advert, and when you saw it. This information allows us to measure the effectiveness of our online advertising campaigns and control the number of times you are shown an advert.
We also use cookies to measure the effectiveness of our marketing communications, for example by telling us if you have opened a marketing email that we have sent.
Retention of cookies on your device(s)
Persistent cookies will be retained for no longer than is necessary for our purposes outlined in the Cookie policy. In general, cookies will not be retained for more than 18 months. In exceptional cases, cookies may be retained for longer but only if required and following appropriate internal sign off.
WHAT DO WE USE COOKIES FOR?
Essential cookie are those used by M&S to deliver and maintain on-line services, including providing basic site functionality, remembering your basket content, facilitating transactions and payments, fraud prevention, and maintaining and securing our sites.
Essential cookies used for these purposes are deployed automatically for all users as soon as they enter our sites. They are legally exempt from the requirement to gain users’ consent. If you wish to use our sites you cannot opt out of these cookies as they are an essential and integral feature.
Non-essential cookies
With your consent, we’ll also use what we call ‘non-essential’ cookies for the purposes set out below:
To enhance sites and services and to comply with contractual duties
1. To improve the quality of our services and develop new ones.
2. To enable special features such as widgets or embedded media files. These special features are not essential to the operation of the sites but are intended to enhance user experience. They also allow us to develop and test new site features.
3. To enable M&S to meet its contractual obligations to make payments to third parties when a product is purchased by someone who has visited our sites from a site operated by those parties.
Show personalised content based on your interests, preferences or location
We use these cookies to improve the way our sites and mobile apps work so that we can personalise your experience and show you content which is most relevant to you. For example, a product or service may only be available in a particular location and may be more relevant to you depending on where you are, or we might show you certain products or services that we believe are most relevant to you based on your previous browsing or purchasing behaviour.
Show personalised or generic adverts either on M&S or third-party sites
We also use cookies to help us deliver online advertising that we believe is most relevant to you on our sites and third-party sites, including on social media such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or the search engine Google.
These types of cookies may collect information about your online attributes or behaviour, as well as your device identifier and/or IP address, the sites you arrived from and information about your browsing and purchase history or the content of your shopping basket. If you accept Advertising and Marketing cookies, your information will be shared with the third party sites if you have an account with them or use them. The third parties may incorporate the data into their information held about you and use it for personalisation of advertisements.
To help us to deliver online advertising that is relevant to you, we may also combine data we collect through cookies in the browser of your desktop computer or other devices with other data that we have collected, for example your purchases online and in store.
Deliver and measure the effectiveness of adverts, marketing and promotional communications
Some cookies can tell us if you have seen a specific advert, and when you saw it. This information allows us to measure the effectiveness of our online advertising campaigns and control the number of times you are shown an advert.
We also use cookies to measure the effectiveness of our marketing communications, for example by telling us if you have opened a marketing email that we have sent.
Retention of cookies on your device(s)
Persistent cookies will be retained for no longer than is necessary for our purposes outlined in the Cookie policy. In general, cookies will not be retained for more than 18 months. In exceptional cases, cookies may be retained for longer but only if required and following appropriate internal sign off.
WHAT IF YOU DON’T WANT NON-ESSENTIAL COOKIES TO BE USED?
You can continue to use our sites and complete transactions without consenting to cookies, but if you do this some functionality may be impaired.
Note – if you have already consented to cookies on our sites, you can change your preferences at any time by selecting the ‘manage cookies’ tab at the bottom of each page. Alternatively, you can clear cookies from your browser and re-enter the site. This will cause the pop-up banner to re-display, and you can choose to use the site(s) without consenting to cookies.
HOW TO DISABLE COOKIES VIA YOUR BROWSER SETTINGS?
You can also disable cookies by changing your sites browser settings to reject cookies. How you can do this will depend on the browser you use. Further details on how to disable cookies for the most popular browsers are set out below: –
For Microsoft Internet Explorer:
1. Choose the menu “tools” then “Internet Options”
2. Click on the “privacy” tab
3. Select the setting the appropriate setting
For Google Chrome:
1. Choose Settings> Advanced
2. Under “Privacy and security,” click “Content settings”.
3. Click “Cookies”
For Safari:
1. Choose Preferences > Privacy
2. Click on “Remove all Sites Data”
For Mozilla firefox:
1. Choose the menu “tools” then “Options”
2. Click on the icon “privacy”
3. Find the menu “cookie” and select the relevant options
For Opera 6.0 and further:
1. Choose the menu Files”> “Preferences”
2. Privacy
WHAT HAPPENS IF I DISABLE COOKIES?
This depends on which cookies you disable, but in general the sites you visit may not operate properly if cookies are switched off.