Last updated: 10 June 2026

This Cookie Policy explains how this website uses cookies and similar tracking technologies, the choices available to you, and how we comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) in South Africa, the EU ePrivacy Directive, and the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

1. What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files placed on your device (computer, tablet, or phone) by the websites you visit. They allow a site to recognise your device, remember preferences, keep you signed in, hold items in your shopping basket, and measure how the site is being used. Cookies do not run programs or deliver viruses to your device.

Where this policy refers to “cookies”, it also covers similar technologies such as web beacons, pixel tags, local storage, and software development kits (SDKs) used by third-party services embedded on our site.

2. Types of cookies we use

Strictly necessary cookies

These are essential for the website to function. Without them, services you have explicitly requested (such as adding items to your cart or logging into your account) cannot be provided. They do not require your consent.

woocommerce_cart_hash — tracks changes to your cart.
woocommerce_items_in_cart — tells the site that your cart is not empty so cached pages are bypassed.
wp_woocommerce_session_* — holds a temporary session ID so we can find your cart in the database.
wordpress_logged_in_* — keeps you signed in to your account.

Functional cookies

These remember choices you make to improve your experience (such as your preferred currency, language, or recently viewed products). They are not essential but make the site more convenient.

YITH Wishlist cookies — remember which products you have saved to your wishlist.
YITH Compare cookies — remember which products you are comparing.
Recently viewed products cookies — show products you have recently browsed.
Cookie banner preference cookie — records your consent choices so we do not ask again on every visit.

Performance and analytics cookies

These help us understand how visitors use the site (which pages are popular, how long people spend on each page, whether errors occur) so we can improve it. They collect information in an aggregated and anonymised form where possible.

_ga — Google Analytics, used to distinguish unique users (expires after 2 years).
_ga_* — Google Analytics 4 property session state (expires after 2 years).
_gid — Google Analytics, used to distinguish users (expires after 24 hours).
_gat — Google Analytics, used to throttle request rate (expires after 1 minute).

Advertising and marketing cookies

These are used to deliver advertising that is more relevant to you and your interests, to limit how often you see an ad, and to help measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. They are usually placed by third-party advertising networks with our permission.

_fbp — Meta (Facebook) Pixel, used to deliver and measure adverts (expires after 3 months).
_gcl_au — Google Ads conversion linker (expires after 3 months).
fr, tr — Meta (Facebook) advertising identifiers.
Retargeting pixels from third-party ad networks where used.

3. Third-party cookies

Some cookies are placed on your device by third-party services that we embed or integrate with. We do not control these cookies directly — please refer to each provider’s own policy for full details. Common third parties on this site include:

Google Analytics — site usage measurement.
Google Tag Manager — container that loads other tags on our behalf.
Meta (Facebook) Pixel — advertising and conversion measurement.
PayFast and Payflex — payment gateway iframes and scripts loaded only on checkout.
Embedded video (YouTube, Vimeo) — where product or marketing videos are embedded.
Customer support / chat widgets — where enabled.

4. How long do cookies stay on my device?

Cookies fall into two broad categories based on how long they live:

Session cookies — deleted automatically when you close your browser. Used for cart contents, login state, and short-lived navigation flags.
Persistent cookies — remain on your device for a set period (anywhere from a few minutes to 24 months) or until you delete them manually. Used for analytics, advertising, and remembering preferences.

Typical lifetimes: strictly necessary — session or up to 48 hours; functional — up to 12 months; analytics — up to 24 months; advertising — up to 13 months.

5. Your choices

You can control and manage cookies in several ways. Please be aware that removing or blocking cookies may impact your experience on the site, and some features (such as the cart and checkout) may not work correctly if strictly necessary cookies are blocked.

Cookie banner

Where a cookie consent banner is shown on first visit, you can use it to accept or reject non-essential categories (analytics, advertising). You can change your choices at any time by clearing your browser cookies for this site and reloading the page, which will cause the banner to reappear.

Browser controls

Most browsers let you view, manage, delete, and block cookies on a per-site basis. Look for the privacy or cookie settings in:

Google Chrome — Settings → Privacy and security → Cookies and other site data.
Apple Safari — Preferences → Privacy.
Mozilla Firefox — Settings → Privacy & Security → Cookies and Site Data.
Microsoft Edge — Settings → Cookies and site permissions.
Opera — Settings → Advanced → Privacy & security.

Opting out of analytics and advertising

You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. You can opt out of Meta advertising by adjusting your ad preferences in your Facebook or Instagram account settings. Industry-wide opt-out tools such as Your Online Choices (EU) and the Digital Advertising Alliance Consumer Choice page (US) also let you opt out of many advertising networks at once.

6. Consent

Under POPIA, the EU ePrivacy Directive, and the principles of the GDPR:

Strictly necessary cookies do not require consent because they are essential to provide the service you have asked for.
Functional, analytics, and advertising cookies require your informed, voluntary, specific, and unambiguous consent before they are set.
You may withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.
We do not knowingly use cookies to collect personal information from children under the age of 18 without appropriate consent from a parent or guardian.

7. Changes to this Cookie Policy

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in technology, regulation, our business operations, or for other legitimate reasons. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page will always reflect the most recent revision. We encourage you to review this page periodically so that you remain informed about how we use cookies.

8. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or about how we use cookies and similar technologies, please contact us via the contact page or by email at onlineshop@matzotech.com.

This Cookie Policy is provided as a starting template and does not constitute legal advice. Please review with qualified counsel before relying on it.

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