This Cookie Policy forms part of our Privacy Policy which can be viewed here

Our websites and mobile apps use cookies and similar technologies to collect information. This includes information about browsing and purchasing behaviour by people who access our websites and apps, such as detail of pages viewed, products purchased and the customer journey around our sites. Detailed information is set out in our Cookie Policy.

Cookie Policy

WHICH WEBSITES DOES THIS POLICY RELATE TO?

This policy applies to all Marks and Spencer Plc (“M&S”) owned and operated sites and apps, both in the UK and in the international territories in which we operate. This includes M&S owned pages which refer a user to M&S branded products and services which are provided by third party organisations.

WHAT ARE COOKIES?

Like most sites and apps, M&S uses cookies and other similar technologies which 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.

Cookies are small data files placed on your computer or other devices (such as smart ‘phones or ‘tablets’) as you browse M&S sites and apps. They are used to ‘remember’ when your computer or device accesses our sites / apps, or to identify you as an M&S customer when you visit other digital locations. They can be used for just the duration of your visit (“session cookies”) or to measure how you interact with services and content over time (“persistent cookies”).

For the purpose of this policy, we use the term “cookies” to include cookies and any other technology that stores or accesses information on a user’s device.

CONSENT FOR USE OF COOKIES

In most cases, cookies cannot be deployed without consent. When you first visit one of our sites/apps, you will be shown a pop-up cookie notification banner. The banner informs the user that the site/app uses cookies and similar technologies. You will have the option to “Accept all Cookies” or “Manage Cookies”. The “Manage Cookies” option allows you to reject all cookies or to opt in and out of different categories of cookies. Even if you choose to reject all cookies, we will continue to deploy essential cookies which are exempt from the legal requirement for consent. When you click “Accept all Cookies”, we deem you to have consented to non-essential cookies unless you have disabled them using your browser settings. An explanation of what we mean by the terms essential and non-essential cookies is set out in the section below.

CONSENT FOR USE OF COOKIES

If you have accepted all cookies (or certain categories) and change your mind, it is easy to change your settings by going to the cookie preference centre. This gives you the opportunity to withdraw your consent by rejecting all cookies. See the section below entitled ‘What if you don’t want non-essential cookies to be used’ for further information.

WHAT DO WE USE COOKIES FOR?

Essential cookies

These cookies are used by M&S to deliver and maintain digital services, including providing basic functionality, remembering your basket content, facilitating transactions and payments, fraud prevention, and maintaining and securing our sites and apps.




Essential cookies used for these purposes are deployed automatically for all users as soon as they access our sites/apps. If you wish to use our sites/apps, you cannot opt out of these cookies as they are an essential and integral feature. The law recognises this and does not require consent for deployment of such cookies.




Non-essential cookies

With your consent, we’ll also use cookies to:

1. Improve the quality of our services and develop new ones

2. Enable special features such as widgets or embedded media files.

These special features are not essential to the operation of the site/app but are intended to enhance user experience. They also allow us to develop and test new features.

3.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 site or app from a site operated by those parties.

4. Show personalised content based on your interests, preferences or location

We use these cookies to improve the way our websites and 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.

5. Show personalised or generic adverts either on M&S or third-party digital environments

We use cookies to help us deliver online advertising that we believe is most relevant to you on our websites/apps and third-party websites/apps, including on social media such as Facebook, Instagram and search engines such as Google.

These cookies may collect information about your online attributes or behaviour, such as your device identifier and/or IP address, the website you arrived from and information about your browsing and purchase history or the content of your shopping basket.

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.

6.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

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 control procedures.




WHAT IF YOU DON’T WANT NON-ESSENTIAL COOKIES TO BE USED?

You can continue to use our website and complete transactions without consenting to cookies, but if you do this some website functionality may be impaired.

Note - if you have already consented to cookies on our website, you can change your preferences at any time by visiting our cookie preference centre and changing your consent cookies. The same goes for the app – just navigate to the ‘Manage Cookies’ part of the ‘More’ menu under ‘About’.

Alternatively, on the website you can do so by clearing cookies from your browser and re-entering 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 website 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 Website 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 websites you visit may not operate properly if cookies are switched off.

WHAT COOKIES DO WE USE?

Cookie type	Key purposes
Essential (or exempt)	These cookies are deemed essential and, as set out above, will be deployed to all users (unless they are disabled via browser settings). There are two categories of essential cookies, which are legally exempt from the obligation to obtain consent, as set out below. 1.Cookies used for various functions that allow the websites to operate, including: - Setting language and directing a user to the correct site - Basket persistence and size - User identification, session ID, Log in detail to facilitate flow of data between browser and server - To differentiate between user device and set layout and display of pages - Redirects to new pages from old ones - Order tracking - Retain persistence of information in forms or online chats - Facilitating payments - Managing consents such as for the deployment of cookies or for marketing 2. Cookies used for fraud prevention and information security functions including; - User authentication - BOT attack prevention, - Visitor prioritisation, - Performance optimisation, - Phased release for page updates	In some cases, information derived from these cookies are shared with third party providers to deliver these services. These include the third parties who work with us to provide. - Security detection and session replay software - Preference Management System(s) tools
Functional	These cookies make your shopping experience and use of the site/app easier. They enable basic functions which are standard for sites and apps. Switching off these cookies will mean that areas of our website/app won’t work properly. They are used for various functions including: - Displaying recently viewed products or searches, - Retaining previous basket contents - Allowing non-essential widgets or videos to operate - Allowing non-essential services such as store locators to work.	In some cases, information derived from these cookies is shared with third parties to deliver these services. Such third parties include:- - Webchat Service Provider(s). - Online Application and Widget Provider(s). - Feedback and Survey tool Providers. - Virtual apparel sizing software Providers.
Personalisation	These cookies help us to learn what you’re interested in so we can show you relevant content while you shop on our site/app and so we can prepare personalised marketing campaigns. Switching off these cookies will mean you see a generic version of the website, rather than content which is more relevant to you. If you accept marketing cookies, but opt out of personalisation, you will receive generic, non-personalised marketing content in social and digital media. They are used for various functions to tailor our website to your preferences and interests, including: - Visitor identification, - Targeted content based on location or preferences, Targeted content based on location or preferences - To ensure consistent experience across the M&S digital ecosphere - To personalise display banners - To display user generated content.	In some cases, information derived from these cookies is shared with third party providers to deliver these services. Examples of the services that such third parties provide include:- - Personalisation tools, to display product recommendations and recently viewed products. - Tools to display User-generated content such as from social media. - To support the preparation of personalised marketing campaigns which are delivered to customers who consent to marketing cookies and/or consent to direct marketing via email or text.
Analytics	These cookies are used to help us understand how users interact with our website/app, products and/or services on an individual basis, so that we can better understand their needs. For example, these cookies are used to collect and analyse information about: - Visitor page views or movements around the website - Customer likes and preferences - Online and offline purchases	In some cases, information derived from these cookies is shared with third party providers to deliver these services. Such third parties include:- - Analytical platform Providers - Analytic tagging Service Providers - User performance and feedback Providers
Advertising and Marketing	These cookies are used to determine the M&S advertising content you will be shown when on-line. . Switching off these cookies will mean you will see generic advertising on other websites or apps, rather than ads which are most relevant to you. They are used to: - Gather information from you on your device to display advertisements - Measure performance of advertisements - Coodinate marketing campaigns across a user’s devices - Share information gathered with other advertisers - Build user profiles - To support ad targeting on other websites	In some cases, information derived from these cookies is shared with third party providers to deliver these services. Such third parties include:- - Third Party Advertisers and Affiliate Marketing Partners - Social Media Advertising Platforms - Customer Data Platforms which combine online and offline data for use by third party marketing Partners