Joanie's Cookies

Cookies and JoaniesGifts.co.uk

Joanie's Gifts uses cookies to help provide the best experience for our customers in terms of use and navigation.  Some sites don't use cookies as simply and honestly as me and that is why the law has changed and all sites are required to explain how they're using cookies.

What are cookies?

Sadly I'm not talking about the baked choc chip variety, as these cookies are quite different and are not edible. The Cookies I am talking about are very small text files containing long numbers and information that is stored on your device when visiting most websites including JoaniesGifts.co.uk. 

Cookies are often given bad press, but when used properly, save user's time and make visiting web sites more efficient and enjoyable. They can be used for many different reasons - from remembering login information and what is in your online shopping basket, to tailoring online adverts so you see more adverts suited to what you want.

How does JoaniesGifts.co.uk use cookies?

The majority of the cookies I use remember the preferences you tell us though our site, so that you get what you want out of my shop. Most of the functionality is essential as you imagine how annoying it would be if the shopping cart kept forgetting what items you'd added to it? Joanie's Gift's Cookies are all about making your experience a better one.  

I have used some of the legal guidance published around cookies to categorise them for you:

• Necessary & Performance.
• Functionality.
• Targeting.

More information on each of these are detailed below.

Necessary & Performance

By using our JoaniesGifts.co.uk, you are giving your consent to the use of 'Necessary & Performance' cookies. Acceptance of these cookies is a condition of using the Joanie's Gifts website and if these cookies are restricted or refused in any way I can't guarantee that the site will function properly for you.

Joanie's Gifts needs to use these cookies to ensure that the website works properly and you are able to use the site to do what you hopefully came to do - shop :-). They are essential for your shoppng, billing, ordering and general use of my gift shop.

Any information collected about my users and customers from cookies is totally anonymous and helps me understand how our site works so I can improve the page for you and all other users.  For example, I might notice that nobody is viewing a particular product range anymore and so will use this information to discontinue this range.  Alternatively, I may use the data to understand how you're finding my shop, perhaps through Facebook, Google or Twitter.  This helps me understand where my users are coming from so I can look at joining my users on these networks for chats and gossip.

In summary, these cookies will :-

• Let you navigate around my website.
• Let me collect anonymous about how you use the website, in order to understand the efficiency of the site and let me know where improvements can be made.  For example stuff like, 10000 visitors viewed my Gorjuss range this week (I wish).  This is known by geeks as "analytics" and the tool Joanie's Gifts uses is called google analytics, a secure industry standard.

Functionality

By using my site, you are giving your consent to the use of 'Functionality' cookies. I do this to ensure all of our customers can get the most out of their experience of shopping with me at Joanie's Gifts. You can change whether these cookies are used, but this may reduce the support and service I can offer you and prevent us remembering which services you might not want.

Joanie's Gifts uses these cookies to remember settings.

In short, these cookies will :-

• Remember your log in details for when you return to the site.
• Remember your abandoned order in case you later return and decide to place it.
• Allow Joaniesgifts affiliates to receive a small commission for referring you to Joaniesgifts.  For example, if you saw a banner on another site for Joaniesgifts products and then clicked through to Joaniesgifts, you may see a little tracking code on the end of the URL.  This is only used to prove that an affiliate referred you and that they should receive a small commission from me should you choose to purchase a product within that session.

Targeting and 3rd Party Cookies

These cookies are managed by third parties, and you can use the third parties' own tools to restrict these cookies.

Some cookies are used to link to other websites where Joanie's Gifts are present.  For example, Joanie's Gifts are on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and more to come.  

These cookies may :-

• Link to social media networks.  For example, by liking my page (please do).
• Show how many users have shared a page.  This is what the AddThis button is doing.

Anything Else You Need to Know?

There is a lot of information on the web about cookies and it can sometimes be confusing.  By using JoaniesGifts.co.uk you can be assured that the cookies are being used legally and for ethical purposes only.  Your details will not be passed on to a 3rd party.

There really has been a lot of flapping around this subject and cookies really needn't be as scary as they sound.

If you would like any more information about how Joanie's Gifts are using cookies, please feel free to contact me anytime.