If you’ve ever wondered how the online shopping cart doesn’t lose items while the customer continues browsing our online store, the answer lies in cookies. These small files stored in the browser are essential to the web experience, and in WooCommerce in particular. In this article, we’ll explore how cookies work and their essential role in the functioning of the WooCommerce online store.
What are Cookies?
Cookies are small pieces of data stored in text files on devices when websites are opened in their respective browsers. They are widely used to remember your preferences, either for a single visit (session cookies) or across multiple visits (persistent cookies). This ensures a consistent and efficient experience, enabling essential functions such as user registration and login.
Cookies can be set by the website being visited (first-party cookies) or by third parties such as content, advertising, or analytics providers (third-party cookies).
In addition, both websites and HTML emails may contain other tracking technologies, such as web beacons or pixels. These are small, transparent images that provide statistics similar to cookies.
They are often used alongside cookies, although they are stored differently on your device. If you disable cookies, web beacons may still load, but their functionality will be limited.