Watkins Retail is committed to protecting your privacy and keeping your personal information safe. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect about you, how we use it, who we share it with, and the rights you have regarding your personal data.
Watkins Ventures LTD (trading as Watkins Retail), referred to throughout this policy as "Watkins Retail", "we", "us" or "our", is the organisation responsible for the personal data collected through or in connection with our website:
We process your personal information in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Section 2 – What Personal Data Do We Collect?
We collect personal information when you create an account, place an order, contact us or otherwise interact with our website.
The information we may collect includes:
Personal details: Your name, title and contact information.
Contact information: Your email address, telephone number and billing and delivery addresses.
Account information: Your username, account details and password credentials (stored securely in protected form).
Order information: Details of products purchased, order history, payment status, delivery information and transaction records.
Payment information: Information relating to your chosen payment method, including payment confirmations and transaction references. Card payments are handled by the relevant payment service provider.
Customer communications: Emails, enquiries, complaints and other correspondence you send to us.
Product reviews: Any reviews, ratings or comments you submit about products purchased from our website.
Technical information: Your IP address, browser type, device information and information about how you interact with our website.
Marketing preferences: Your preferences regarding promotional emails and other marketing communications.
We may also collect information through cookies and similar technologies, including information relating to advertising activity through Google Ads, subject to applicable consent requirements.
Section 3 – How Do We Use Your Personal Data?
We use your personal information for the following purposes:
To create and manage your customer account.
To process, confirm and fulfil your orders.
To arrange delivery of your purchases.
To process payments and manage refunds, returns and other order-related matters.
To communicate with you regarding orders, deliveries, enquiries and complaints.
To provide customer support and respond to your requests.
To allow you to submit product reviews and feedback.
To send promotional emails and newsletters where you have agreed to receive them or where we are otherwise legally permitted to do so.
To improve our website, products and customer experience.
To monitor website performance and protect against fraud, unauthorised access and other security risks.
To measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns through Google Ads, where the necessary consent has been obtained.
To comply with applicable legal, tax and accounting obligations.
We will only use your personal information for purposes that are relevant and lawful.
Section 4 – Legal Basis for Processing Your Information
Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful reason for collecting and using your personal information.
Depending on the circumstances, we rely on the following legal bases:
Contractual necessity
We use your information where it is necessary to fulfil our contractual obligations to you, including processing orders, taking payments, arranging deliveries and managing your customer account.
Legal obligations
We may process and retain certain information to comply with legal requirements, including tax, accounting and regulatory obligations.
Legitimate interests
We may use your information where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided these interests do not override your rights and freedoms. This may include maintaining website security, preventing fraud, improving our services and managing customer relationships.
Consent
Where required, we rely on your consent to send marketing communications or use non-essential cookies and advertising technologies.
You can withdraw your consent at any time where processing is based on consent.
Section 5 – Marketing Communications
We may send you promotional emails, newsletters and information about products, offers and updates from Watkins Retail.
We will only send marketing communications where you have provided consent or where another lawful basis under applicable electronic marketing rules permits us to do so.
You can unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time by:
Clicking the unsubscribe link included in our marketing emails.
If you unsubscribe, we will stop sending you promotional communications. However, we may still contact you with important service-related messages, such as order confirmations, delivery updates and information relating to your account.
We do not sell your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.
Section 6 – Cookies and Advertising Technologies
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to ensure that the website operates correctly and to support certain website functionality.
Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They can help websites remember information about your visit and improve your browsing experience.
We may use the following types of cookies:
Essential cookies
These are necessary for the operation of our website, including customer account functionality, shopping basket functionality and the checkout process.
Advertising cookies
We use Google Ads to help measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns. Advertising technologies may collect information about your browsing activity and interactions with advertisements.
Non-essential cookies and advertising technologies will only be used where the required consent has been obtained.
You can manage cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling essential cookies may affect certain website functions.
We may update this section as our use of cookies and advertising technologies changes.
Section 7 – Who Do We Share Your Personal Data With?
We may share your personal information with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business and provide our services.
These may include:
Payment providers
We use payment services to securely process transactions. Depending on your chosen payment method, these may include providers supporting Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Visa Electron, Maestro and PayPal.
Delivery providers
We share the necessary delivery information with Royal Mail to enable your orders to be delivered.
Website and hosting providers
Our website operates using WooCommerce and related website infrastructure. Relevant service providers may process information necessary to maintain and operate the website.
Advertising providers
We use Google Ads to measure advertising performance and support our advertising activities, subject to applicable consent requirements.
Professional advisers
We may share information with accountants, legal advisers and other professional service providers where necessary.
Legal and regulatory authorities
We may disclose personal information where required by law, regulation, court order or a lawful request from an appropriate authority.
We only share personal information where necessary and expect relevant service providers to handle it securely and in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.
Section 8 – International Data Transfers
As Watkins Retail sells products to customers in the UK and internationally, and uses third-party service providers, some personal information may be processed or stored outside the United Kingdom.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer complies with applicable data protection legislation.
Where required, this may include relying on an applicable adequacy regulation or implementing appropriate safeguards, such as approved contractual data protection clauses.
You can contact us if you would like further information about international transfers and the safeguards used.
Section 9 – Data Storage and Retention
We only retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or to meet our legal obligations.
How long we keep your information will depend on the type of information and why it was collected.
For example:
Customer accounts: We retain account information while your account remains active and for an appropriate period afterwards where necessary.
Order records: We retain transaction and order information for the periods required for accounting, tax, legal and business purposes.
Customer communications: We retain relevant correspondence for as long as necessary to deal with enquiries, complaints or potential legal matters.
Marketing information: We retain marketing preferences and relevant contact details until you unsubscribe or they are no longer required.
Technical information: We retain technical and website-related information for periods appropriate to security and operational requirements.
When information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to delete it or securely anonymise it.
Section 10 – Data Security
We take the security of your personal information seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.
Our website uses secure connections and encryption technologies, including SSL/TLS, to help protect information transmitted between your device and our website.
We also take reasonable steps to ensure that access to personal information is restricted to those who need it for legitimate business purposes.
Payment transactions are handled through the relevant payment service providers. We do not intend to store full payment card security details on our website.
Although we take reasonable precautions to protect your information, no method of transmitting or storing information electronically can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
Section 11 – Children's Privacy
Our website and services are intended for general retail customers and are not specifically directed towards children.
We do not knowingly collect personal information from children where doing so would be contrary to applicable data protection laws.
If you believe that a child has provided us with personal information inappropriately, please contact us so that we can investigate and take appropriate action.
Section 12 – Your Data Protection Rights
Under applicable data protection legislation, you have several rights regarding the personal information we hold about you.
These may include:
Right of access: You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
Right to erasure: You can request that we delete your personal information in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing: You can ask us to restrict how we use your personal information in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability: You may request certain personal information in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
Right to object: You can object to certain types of processing, including processing based on legitimate interests and the use of your information for direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time.
These rights are subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions. For example, we may need to retain some information to comply with legal obligations.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided below.
You also have the right to raise a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator.
Our website may contain links to third-party websites, services or platforms.
If you follow a link to another website, please be aware that it will have its own privacy policy and data protection practices.
We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of third-party websites. We recommend reviewing their privacy policies before providing any personal information.
Section 14 – Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business operations, website functionality, services or legal requirements.
Any updates will be published on this page, together with an updated revision date.
We encourage you to review this page periodically to stay informed about how we collect, use and protect your personal information.
Section 15 – Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, how we use your personal information or wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact us.
Watkins Retail
Trading name of Watkins Ventures LTD
