A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about webpage traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

E-commerce and Membership Update

These sections form part of our Cookie Policy and cover the cookies used for online purchases, including Dears Plus membership.

How we use cookies

We use two kinds of cookies on our website.

Strictly necessary cookies are the ones the website cannot work without — for example, keeping you signed in, remembering what is in your basket and processing your payment securely. We do not need your consent for these, and they cannot be switched off in our cookie settings.

All other cookies — for example, cookies that help us understand how the website is used, or that support advertising — are only set if you agree to them. When you first visit our website you can choose which of these to accept. You can change your choice at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer of every page.

E-commerce, checkout and payment cookies

Where our website allows you to purchase a product or membership online, we use strictly necessary cookies and similar technologies to support the basket, checkout and payment process.

These cookies help the website to:

• remember items added to your basket;
• keep your checkout session active;
• process your order securely;
• detect errors or failed payments;
• support fraud prevention and payment security.

These cookies are necessary for the online purchase process to work. If you block them, you may not be able to complete a purchase through the website.

Payment provider cookies

We use Stripe to process online payments securely. Stripe may set cookies and use similar technologies as part of the payment and fraud-prevention process.

Stripe’s fraud-prevention technology is only loaded on our basket, checkout and payment pages. It is not loaded when you are browsing the rest of our website.

Stripe’s own cookie policy, on Stripe’s website, explains how Stripe uses cookies.

Cookies we use

The table below lists the cookies we use. We review it regularly.

Cookie / provider	Purpose	Category
Dears Pharmacy	Keeps your checkout session active and remembers your basket	Strictly necessary
Stripe	Payment processing, fraud prevention and payment security	Strictly necessary (checkout pages only)
Dears Pharmacy	Remembers your cookie preferences	Strictly necessary
Google Analytics	Helps us understand how visitors use the website	Consent required

Managing cookies

You can change which non-essential cookies you accept at any time using the Cookie settings link in the footer of every page. Withdrawing your consent is as easy as giving it, and it will not affect anything that happened before you withdrew it.

You can also accept, reject or delete cookies through your browser settings. Please note that browser settings are not the same as our cookie settings, and that if you block strictly necessary cookies, parts of the website will not work correctly — including the basket, checkout and payment process.