Company Registration No: 4911776

Last updated: February 2026 | Version 2.0

 

1. Who We Are

Appliance World Online Limited (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a family-run business established in 1971, based in Manchester. We are the data controller responsible for your personal data under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Registered address: 543–547 Bolton Road, Pendlebury, Manchester, M27 8QT

Distribution centre: Units 4–6 Premier Park, Acheson Way, Trafford Park, Manchester, M17 1GA

Data protection contact: support@applianceworldonline.com

General enquiries: sales@applianceworldonline.com | 0161 794 3030

Our website is hosted on Shopify. Where Shopify processes your personal data in its capacity as a data processor or independent controller, Shopify’s own privacy policy applies. You can view it at privacy.shopify.com.

2. What This Policy Covers

This policy explains what personal data we collect when you visit our website (applianceworldonline.com), place an order, visit our showrooms, contact us by telephone, email or live chat, or otherwise interact with us. It also explains how and why we use that data, who we share it with, how long we keep it, and what rights you have.

Please read this policy carefully. By using our website or services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood it. This policy supplements our Terms of Service; where there is any conflict relating to personal data, this policy takes precedence.

3. Personal Data We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal data depending on how you interact with us:

Category	Examples
Identity Data	First name, last name, title
Contact Data	Billing address, delivery address, email address, telephone number
Financial Data	Payment card details (stored in tokenised form by our payment processor), transaction amounts
Transaction Data	Details of products purchased, order history, returns, exchanges, delivery and installation records, warranty registrations
Technical Data	IP address, browser type and version, device information, operating system, time zone, pages visited
Usage Data	How you use our website, including pages viewed, items added to basket, and browsing patterns
Marketing Preferences	Your preferences for receiving marketing communications from us and how you wish to be contacted
Communications Data	Information you provide when contacting us, including emails, live chat transcripts, and telephone call records

 

4. How We Collect Your Data

Directly from you: when you place an order, create an account, start a checkout, subscribe to our mailing list, enter a competition or promotion, sign up via a website popup or form, visit our showrooms, contact us, or otherwise provide information to us. Where you opt in to marketing communications, this is always through a clear, affirmative action on your part (for example, ticking a non-pre-selected checkbox during checkout, entering a competition, or subscribing via a signup form).

Automatically: when you browse our website, we collect technical and usage data through cookies and similar technologies. Please see Section 11 (Cookies) for further details.

From third parties: we may receive data from payment processors, delivery partners, cashback or affiliate services (such as TopCashback), and fraud prevention services. We do not purchase or acquire email lists or contact data from third-party marketing databases. We only hold your email address for marketing purposes because you provided it to us directly through one of the opt-in methods described above.

5. How and Why We Use Your Data

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. The lawful bases we rely on are:

•       Performance of a contract: processing necessary to fulfil our obligations to you, such as processing your order, arranging delivery or installation, handling returns and exchanges, and managing your account.

•       Legitimate interests: processing necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided these do not override your rights. This includes fraud prevention, debt recovery, defending legal claims (including chargebacks), maintaining business records, improving our services, and administering our website.

•       Legal obligation: processing necessary to comply with a legal obligation, such as tax reporting to HMRC, product safety recalls, and regulatory requirements.

•       Consent: where you have given us clear, affirmative consent, such as opting in to receive marketing emails. You may withdraw consent at any time.

 

The table below sets out each purpose for which we process your data and the lawful basis we rely on:

Purpose	Data Used	Lawful Basis
Processing and fulfilling your order, including delivery and installation	Identity, Contact, Financial, Transaction	Performance of contract
Managing payments, collecting debts, and responding to chargebacks or payment disputes	Identity, Contact, Financial, Transaction	Performance of contract; Legitimate interests (debt recovery, fraud prevention)
Providing after-sales support, managing warranty claims, arranging repairs and servicing	Identity, Contact, Transaction	Performance of contract; Legitimate interests
Sending marketing communications (email, SMS)	Identity, Contact, Marketing Preferences	Consent (explicit opt-in via checkout, signup form, competition entry or other subscription method)
Abandoned basket assistance emails	Contact, Transaction (basket contents)	Consent (marketing opt-in at checkout)
Fraud detection and prevention	Identity, Contact, Financial, Technical	Legitimate interests
Complying with tax, accounting and regulatory requirements	Identity, Contact, Financial, Transaction	Legal obligation
Defending or pursuing legal claims, including product liability and insurance claims	Identity, Contact, Financial, Transaction, Communications	Legitimate interests; Legal obligation
Website administration, analytics and improvement	Technical, Usage	Legitimate interests
Responding to your enquiries and providing customer support	Identity, Contact, Communications	Legitimate interests; Performance of contract
Facilitating cashback via affiliate services (e.g. TopCashback)	Identity, Contact, Transaction	Performance of contract

 

6. Marketing Communications

We will only send you marketing communications (including promotional emails and abandoned basket reminders) where you have actively opted in. You may opt in through various means, including ticking the marketing consent checkbox during checkout (which is never pre-selected), subscribing via a newsletter signup form on our website, entering a competition or promotion, or signing up in one of our showrooms. We do not purchase email lists or obtain contact details from third-party marketing databases.

If you have previously purchased from us, we may rely on the “soft opt-in” under Regulation 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) to send you marketing about similar products or services, provided you were given a clear opportunity to opt out when your details were first collected and in every subsequent communication.

Opting out: you can unsubscribe from marketing at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link in any of our emails, or by contacting us at support@applianceworldonline.com. We will action your request promptly. Opting out of marketing will not affect transactional communications relating to your orders.

7. Who We Share Your Data With

We may share your personal data with the following categories of third parties, acting as data processors or independent controllers as indicated:

•       Shopify (our e-commerce platform provider) — as both a processor and, for certain enhanced features, an independent controller. See privacy.shopify.com for details.

•       Delivery and logistics partners — to arrange delivery of your order.

•       Installation engineers (including our own Gas Safe registered engineers) — to carry out installations you have requested.

•       Payment processors — to process your payments securely.

•       Appliance manufacturers — for warranty registration, product recalls, repairs and servicing.

•       Warranty and insurance providers (such as Sirius Group or Pacifica) — where applicable to products you have purchased.

•       Email marketing platform (Klaviyo) — to send marketing communications where you have opted in.

•       Cashback and affiliate services (such as TopCashback) — to facilitate cashback on your purchases.

•       IT service providers — for website hosting, maintenance, analytics and security.

•       Professional advisers — including accountants, lawyers and insurers, where necessary.

•       HMRC, regulators and law enforcement — where required by law.

 

We require all third-party processors to process your data only on our instructions and in accordance with applicable data protection law. We never sell your personal data. We do not permit third-party processors to use your data for their own purposes.

8. How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Our specific retention periods are:

Type of Data	Retention Period
Transaction records (including orders, payments, delivery and installation records)	10 years from date of purchase. This is required under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (product liability), the Limitation Act 1980, and to defend against chargebacks, disputes and insurance claims.
Financial and tax records	6 years from the end of the relevant tax year, as required by HMRC.
Customer enquiries (no order placed)	Up to 24 months from the date of the enquiry.
Marketing subscriber data	For as long as you remain subscribed. If you become inactive (i.e. you do not engage with our emails over an extended period), we may suppress your data so that you no longer receive marketing from us, but we will retain a record of your suppression to ensure we do not contact you again. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Website analytics and technical data	26 months (in line with standard analytics retention).
Installation and servicing records	10 years from the date of service. Required for product liability, Gas Safe compliance, and potential insurance claims.

 

We may retain data for longer where there is an ongoing dispute, claim, complaint or legal obligation. After the relevant retention period, data is securely deleted or anonymised.

Why we keep records: as a retailer providing delivery, installation and after-sales services, we have a legitimate business need and legal obligation to retain transaction and financial records. For example, if an appliance we installed develops a fault, or if a customer initiates a chargeback or payment dispute, we must have adequate records to respond. Without these records, neither we nor our customers would have recourse in the event of a claim.

9. International Transfers

Your data may be transferred outside the United Kingdom where our service providers (including Shopify) operate in other jurisdictions. Where this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including the use of UK International Data Transfer Agreements or Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the relevant authorities, or transfers to countries with an adequacy decision.

10. Your Rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

•       Access: you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

•       Correction: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.

•       Erasure: you can ask us to delete your data where there is no compelling reason for us to continue processing it. Please note that we may need to retain certain data for legal or regulatory purposes (see Section 8).

•       Restriction: you can ask us to restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances.

•       Portability: you can request a copy of your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.

•       Objection: you can object to processing based on legitimate interests. You have an absolute right to object to direct marketing at any time.

•       Withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

 

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at support@applianceworldonline.com. We will respond within one month. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request. There is no fee for exercising your rights, unless a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your data or your request, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection supervisory authority, at www.ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113. We would appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you contact the ICO, so please reach out to us first.

11. Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. Cookies are small text files stored on your device that help us understand how you use our website, remember your preferences, and improve your experience.

We use the following types of cookies:

•       Strictly necessary cookies: essential for the website to function (e.g. shopping basket, checkout). These do not require consent.

•       Analytics cookies: help us understand how visitors use our website. We use these to improve our site and services.

•       Marketing cookies: used to deliver relevant advertisements and track campaign effectiveness. These are only set with your consent.

You can manage your cookie preferences through the cookie banner displayed when you first visit our website, or by adjusting your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website. For more information on cookies generally, visit allaboutcookies.org.

12. Security

We take the security of your personal data seriously. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss, destruction or alteration. These measures include SSL/TLS encryption across our entire website, PCI DSS-compliant payment processing, and restricted access controls for staff.

13. Children

Our services are not directed at children under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

14. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those websites. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any website you visit.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other operational reasons. We will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this policy and, where appropriate, notify you of significant changes.

16. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, wish to exercise your rights, or have a concern about how we handle your data, please contact us:

•       Data protection enquiries: support@applianceworldonline.com

•       General enquiries: sales@applianceworldonline.com | 0161 794 3030

•       Post: Appliance World Online Limited, 543–547 Bolton Road, Pendlebury, Manchester, M27 8QT

 

For the purposes of applicable data protection legislation, Appliance World Online Limited is the data controller of your personal information.