Cookie Policy

This policy explains what cookies are, which ones we use, and how you can manage them. It sits alongside our Privacy Policy, which covers how we handle your personal data more broadly.

1. What cookies are

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make sites work, to remember your choices, and to help owners understand how their site is used. Similar technologies (such as local storage) work in the same way, and we mean those too when we say “cookies”.

2. The cookies we use

Essential cookies

These are needed for the site to work, and they cannot be switched off — they do not require consent. Ours are: pu_cart (remembers the contents of your basket), pu_age_ok (remembers that you confirmed you are of legal purchase age — 18 in the UK, 21 in the US — for 30 days), and pu_consent (remembers your cookie choice itself, for 12 months). A short-lived cookie also lets you view your own order confirmation after checkout.

Analytics cookies

These help us understand how the site is used so we can improve it, via Google Analytics 4 (provided by Google) and Microsoft Clarity (provided by Microsoft). Google Analytics measures aggregate usage such as pages viewed and general location; Microsoft Clarity records anonymised session interactions (clicks, scrolls and heatmaps) to show where the site is confusing. Typical cookies include Google’s _ga and Microsoft’s _clck / _clsk. They are only set with your consent, they load only after you accept, and the site works the same whether or not you accept them.

Marketing cookies

We use one marketing/advertising cookie: the Snap Pixel (provided by Snap Inc., who operate Snapchat). It measures whether our Snapchat advertising leads to visits and orders — the events it records are page views, product views, cart adds, checkout starts and purchases, with product identifiers and GBP amounts only. We do not send Snap your email address, phone number or any other contact details, in plain or hashed form. A typical cookie it sets is _scid. Like our analytics cookies, it is only set with your consent, loads only after you accept, and the site works the same whether or not you accept it. Snap Inc. receives this event data as a recipient — see our Privacy Policy.

3. Your consent

When you first visit, a banner at the bottom of the page asks whether you accept non-essential (analytics and marketing) cookies. Nothing non-essential loads until you choose — no Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity or Snap Pixel script, and no analytics or marketing cookie. You can Accept, or open Cookie options to allow all, reject non-essential cookies, or toggle them on their own. They are off by default and never pre-selected. Essential cookies are always active because the site cannot function without them.

We use Google’s Consent Mode, which is set to denied by default, so analytics storage stays off until you allow it. Your choice is remembered in a first-party cookie named pu_consent for 12 months, so the banner does not reappear each visit. You can change or withdraw your choice at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer; withdrawing stops future analytics and marketing scripts from loading (removing cookies already set is best-effort — see below).

4. Managing or disabling cookies

You can accept or decline non-essential cookies through our cookie banner, and change or withdraw your choice any time from the Cookie settings link in the footer. You can also control or delete cookies through your browser settings — most browsers let you block or remove cookies, though blocking essential cookies may stop parts of the site working. Guidance for your browser is usually found in its help pages.

5. Third-party cookies

With your consent, analytics cookies are set by Google (Google Analytics 4) and Microsoft (Clarity). Our payment provider, Viva.com, may also set cookies on its own hosted checkout pages when you pay. Those providers use the data in line with their own privacy policies, linked above.

6. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the cookies we use change. The “last updated” date at the top shows when it last changed. Questions about your data more generally are answered in our Privacy Policy.

Questions about this policy? Email yo@pouchup.co.