Policies

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 7 October 2026

Willows Wear respects your privacy. This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, who we share it with and what rights you have under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA).

1. Who is responsible

The responsible party for your information is:

• Trading as: Willows Wear
• Legal name: Thabo Kototsi and Teli Mothabeng, trading as Willows Wear
• Legal status: Partnership
• VAT: Not registered for VAT
• Address: Willows, Bloemfontein, 9301
• Telephone / WhatsApp: +27 81 775 9070
• Email: info@willowswear.co.za
• Website: willowswear.co.za

Our Information Officer is the owner of Willows Wear; you can reach them at info@willowswear.co.za.

2. What we collect

• When you order: your name, email address, phone number, delivery address, any delivery notes you add, and the details of what you ordered and paid.
• When you subscribe to our newsletter: your email address.
• When you contact us: whatever you send us (for example by email or WhatsApp).
• Your device: to remember your cart, your browser stores a small item on your own device (local storage). We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.
• Visit counting: we use GoatCounter, a privacy-friendly analytics service, to count visits (which pages are viewed, the country, device type and the website you came from). It does not use cookies and does not identify you personally or follow you across other websites.

We do not see or store your card details — payments are handled by PayFast. Our pages load fonts from Google Fonts, so Google receives your IP address and browser details when a page loads.

3. Why we use it

• to process and deliver your order, take payment and send you order, dispatch and delivery emails (to perform our contract with you);
• to handle returns, refunds, queries and complaints;
• to keep the records the law requires, for example for tax;
• to prevent fraud and keep the website secure (our legitimate interest); and
• to send you news and offers, only if you subscribed (your consent). You can withdraw it at any time.

We only collect what we need for these purposes, and we do not sell your information.

4. Who we share it with

We share information only with service providers who help us run the shop, and only as needed:

• PayFast — payment processing;
• Supabase — secure database hosting for orders, stock and our newsletter list;
• Netlify — website hosting and order processing;
• Zoho — sending our emails;
• Couriers (such as PEP PAXI or PostNet) — your name, address and phone number, and for collection-point options the store you chose, so they can deliver;
• OpenStreetMap (Nominatim) — when you check delivery options, the address you typed is sent to this free map-search service to check that it exists on the map; and
• WhatsApp — if you choose to message us there.

Some of these providers store or process information outside South Africa. We use providers that apply appropriate safeguards, as POPIA requires for cross-border transfers. We may also disclose information when the law requires it.

5. How long we keep it

• Order and payment records: 5 years (tax and accounting rules).
• Newsletter email address: until you unsubscribe.
• Messages to us: only as long as needed to deal with your query.

6. How we protect it

Our website uses encrypted (HTTPS) connections, access to order and customer information is limited to authorised people with secure logins, and our database is protected so that the public cannot read it. No system is perfectly secure; if there is ever a breach that affects you we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

7. Your rights

You may ask us at any time to:

• tell you what personal information we hold about you and give you a copy;
• correct or update it;
• delete it (we will, unless we must keep it by law, for example order records for tax); or
• stop using it for marketing — you can unsubscribe at any time by emailing info@willowswear.co.za, and we will remove you promptly.

Email info@willowswear.co.za and we will respond within a reasonable time. If you believe we have mishandled your information you can complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa (inforegulator.org.za).

8. Children

Our shop is meant for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18 without a parent or guardian’s consent.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy; the latest version is always on this page, with the date it was last updated.