Privacy policy

Last updated: September 2026

A Novel Place Bookshop operates this website and online store. This Privacy Policy explains how A Novel Place Bookshop collects, uses, stores and shares personal information when you visit our website, create an account, place an order, sign up to our marketing, contact us or otherwise interact with our services.

A Novel Place Bookshop is powered by Shopify, which provides the technology that allows us to operate our online store.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, A Novel Place Bookshop is the data controller responsible for your personal information.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully so that you understand how and why we use your personal information and the rights you have in relation to it.

1. Personal information we collect

The information we collect depends on how you interact with A Novel Place Bookshop.

Information you provide directly

We may collect:

  • Your name

  • Billing and delivery addresses

  • Email address

  • Telephone number

  • Account login details, where you create an account

  • Order and purchase information

  • Information you provide when contacting us

  • Information you provide when submitting a product review or otherwise interacting with our website

  • Your marketing preferences

  • Any other information you choose to provide to us

Chat and AI-assisted support information

If you use our website chat, we may collect and process the messages and information you provide during the conversation, including information needed to respond to your enquiry or provide customer support.

Payment information

When you place an order, your payment is processed through our payment providers. We may receive information such as payment status, transaction details and the payment method used.

We do not normally have access to or store your full payment card number or security code. Payment information is processed by our payment providers in accordance with their own privacy policies and security requirements.

Information collected automatically

When you visit our website, certain information may be collected automatically, including:

  • Your IP address

  • Browser type and version

  • Device type

  • Operating system

  • Approximate location

  • Pages you visit

  • Products you view

  • Products you add to your basket

  • How you interact with our website

  • Information about how and when you access our website

  • Cookies and similar technologies

We use this information to operate, secure and improve our website and, where permitted, to understand how visitors use our store.

2. How we collect your information

We may collect personal information:

  • Directly from you when you place an order, create an account, contact us, sign up for marketing or otherwise provide information to us

  • Automatically when you use our website

  • Through cookies and similar technologies

  • From Shopify and other service providers who process information on our behalf

  • From other third parties where this is permitted by law

We do not buy marketing lists or sell your personal information.

3. How we use your personal information

We only use your personal information where we have a lawful basis to do so.

Depending on how you interact with A Novel Place Bookshop, we may use your information for the following purposes.

Processing and fulfilling orders

We use your information to:

  • Process and take payment for your order

  • Confirm your order

  • Arrange delivery

  • Communicate with you about your order

  • Process cancellations, returns and refunds

  • Provide customer support

  • Keep appropriate records of transactions

The lawful basis for this processing is generally that it is necessary to perform our contract with you.

Managing customer accounts

If you create an account, we use your information to maintain your account, provide account-related services and remember relevant preferences.

The lawful basis is generally performance of our contract with you.

Customer service

When you contact us, we use the information you provide to respond to your enquiry, resolve problems and provide customer support.

Depending on the circumstances, the lawful basis may be performance of a contract, compliance with a legal obligation or our legitimate interests in managing and improving our customer service.

Improving our website and services

We may use information about how customers interact with our website to understand what works well, identify problems and improve the shopping experience.

Where appropriate, we rely on our legitimate interests in operating and improving our business. Where consent is legally required, we will ask for it.

Recommendations and personalised shopping

We may use information about products you have viewed, purchased or added to your basket to provide relevant product recommendations or to make your shopping experience more useful.

Where this involves personal information, we will only do so where we have an appropriate lawful basis and where required, your consent.

Fraud prevention and security

We may use personal information to:

  • Protect our website and customers

  • Detect and prevent fraudulent transactions

  • Investigate suspicious or unlawful activity

  • Protect our business and our customers

  • Maintain the security of our systems

The lawful basis may include our legitimate interests in protecting our business and customers and complying with legal obligations.

Legal and regulatory requirements

We may process personal information where necessary to comply with legal obligations, respond to lawful requests from authorities, establish or defend legal claims, resolve disputes or enforce our terms and policies.

4. Marketing communications

If you choose to receive marketing from A Novel Place Bookshop, we may send you emails about books, new releases, recommendations, offers, news and other information about our products and services.

Where consent is required, we will only send marketing emails where you have provided appropriate consent.

You can withdraw your consent or unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time by using the unsubscribe link included in our emails or by contacting us.

Where permitted by applicable law, we may also contact existing customers about our own similar products and services where the requirements for the relevant marketing exception are met. This includes giving customers a clear opportunity to opt out when their details are collected and in subsequent marketing communications.

Marketing emails will always identify A Novel Place Bookshop and provide an appropriate way to unsubscribe.

UK rules governing electronic marketing require consent in many circumstances, while allowing a limited exception for marketing similar products and services to existing customers where specific conditions are met.

5. Who we share your information with

We may share personal information with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business and provide our services.

These may include:

  • Shopify, which provides our online store platform

  • Payment service providers

  • Delivery and fulfilment providers

  • IT and technology providers

  • Email and marketing service providers

  • Website analytics providers

  • Customer service providers

  • Professional advisers, such as accountants, insurers or legal advisers

  • Government authorities or law enforcement agencies where we are legally required to do so

  • Shopify Inbox and AI service providers

    Where we use Shopify Inbox or its AI-powered features, Shopify may process customer chat messages and related information to provide the chat service, generate responses and improve the quality of its AI services.

We only share information where there is an appropriate reason and lawful basis for doing so.

We do not sell your personal information.

Where a third party processes personal information on our behalf, we take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate contractual and security arrangements are in place.

6. Shopify

Our online store is powered by Shopify.

Shopify processes personal information in connection with the operation of our store and its services. Information submitted through our website may therefore be processed by Shopify and its service providers, including in countries outside the UK.

Shopify may also process information in accordance with its own privacy policies and responsibilities as a data processor or, where applicable, as a separate data controller.

You can find information about how Shopify handles personal information in the Shopify privacy policy.

Shopify Privacy Policy

You can also find information about Shopify's privacy rights portal here:

Shopify Privacy Portal

7. Shopify Inbox and AI-assisted chat

We use Shopify Inbox to provide customer support through the chat feature on our website.

Where enabled, Shopify Inbox may use an AI-powered Inbox agent to respond automatically to customer messages. The Inbox agent may use information from our product catalogue, store policies, website content and other information we provide to Shopify to help answer customer questions.

When you use our website chat, Shopify may process information contained in your conversation, including the messages you send and information provided during the conversation, in order to generate responses and operate the Inbox service.

Shopify may also use chat conversation data and related information to improve the quality and performance of its Inbox agent, in accordance with Shopify’s own privacy policies and applicable data protection requirements.

The Inbox agent may be able to use relevant information about your interaction with our store to provide more useful responses. Depending on how Shopify Inbox and customer accounts are configured, this may include information such as products you have viewed, purchased or added to your basket.

If you ask to speak to a person, a conversation may be transferred to us for review and response where staff handoff is available.

Shopify processes this information on our behalf as part of providing Shopify Inbox, although Shopify may also have its own responsibilities as a separate data controller for certain processing. Information may be processed outside the UK, as described in the International transfers section of this Privacy Policy.

You should avoid including unnecessary sensitive or confidential personal information in website chat.

For more information about how Shopify processes personal information in connection with Shopify Inbox and its AI services, please see Shopify’s privacy information.


8. Cookies and similar technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies.

Some cookies are necessary for the website to operate, including functions such as shopping baskets, checkout and security.

We may also use other cookies or similar technologies for purposes such as analytics, understanding how visitors use our website and improving our services.

Where consent is required for non-essential cookies or similar technologies, we will ask for your consent before using them.

You can manage your cookie preferences through our cookie consent tools and through your browser settings.

Our cookie information should be read alongside this Privacy Policy.

9. Third-party websites

Our website may contain links to websites operated by third parties.

If you follow a link to another website, that website will have its own privacy policy and terms. A Novel Place Bookshop is not responsible for the privacy practices, security or content of third-party websites.

You should review the privacy policy of any third-party website before providing personal information to it.

10. Reviews and publicly visible information

If you choose to submit a review or other content to our website, some of the information you provide may be displayed publicly.

Please consider carefully what personal information you include in any review or other publicly visible content.

We are not responsible for personal information that you choose to disclose publicly.

11. Children's information

Our website is intended for general audiences and is not specifically directed at children.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children where we are not legally permitted to do so.

If you believe that a child has provided us with personal information and you would like us to investigate or delete it where appropriate, please contact us using the details below.

12. How we protect your information

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

However, no method of transmitting or storing information electronically can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Where possible, sensitive information should be provided through secure channels rather than ordinary email.

13. How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.

The length of time we keep information depends on factors including:

  • Whether you have an active customer account

  • Whether we need the information to fulfil an order or provide customer service

  • Whether we have an ongoing relationship with you

  • Whether we need to retain information to comply with accounting, tax or other legal requirements

  • Whether we need the information to resolve a dispute or establish, exercise or defend legal claims

  • Whether you have asked us to stop using your information for particular purposes

When personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to securely delete it or anonymise it.

14. International transfers

Some of the companies we use to operate our website and provide our services may process personal information outside the UK.

Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer is lawful and that appropriate safeguards are in place, as required by applicable data protection law.

These safeguards may include UK adequacy regulations, appropriate contractual safeguards or other lawful transfer mechanisms.

15. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and subject to applicable law, you may have the right to:

  • Ask for access to the personal information we hold about you

  • Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information

  • Ask us to delete your personal information

  • Ask us to restrict how we use your information

  • Object to certain processing of your personal information

  • Ask for your personal information to be transferred to you or another organisation in certain circumstances

  • Withdraw consent where we rely on consent to process your information

  • Object to direct marketing at any time

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time using the unsubscribe link included in the email.

Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Some rights are subject to legal exceptions and limitations.

16. How to exercise your rights

If you would like to exercise any of your rights, please contact us using the details below.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests.

We will normally respond to valid requests within the period required by applicable data protection law.

17. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we use your personal information, please contact us first so that we have the opportunity to resolve the issue.

You also have the right to complain to the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office.

Information Commissioner's Office

18. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our business, website, technology, legal requirements or the way we process personal information.

When we make changes, we will update the Last updated date at the top of this policy.

19. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, how we use your personal information or your data protection rights, please contact us.

A Novel Place Bookshop

25 Greenfields Avenue
Southampton
SO40 3LU
United Kingdom

Email: anovelplacebookshop@gmail.com

Telephone: +44 7803 310735

For the purposes of applicable UK data protection law, A Novel Place Bookshop is the data controller for the personal information we process.