Modern E-commerce websites have a set of rules that they must follow to keep track of customers and avoid fraud. The first step of the rules is a cookie, a small piece of code is placed in your browser when you visit a site. Similar to a handshake, when the customer comes back to the site it looks at this code and says “Hey, I know you!”.
The second rule, probably of larger importance, is the session. The session basically is a timer. The timer starts when you first land on the site, and it tracks how long you are visiting the site. This timer works in conjunction with PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance. PCI compliance is the set of rules that credit card companies decided websites should follow to minimize fraud.
What Does This Mean?
What does this all mean? It means that to have the best site experience, you should log in and log out of sites when you go to them to place orders. By logging in, it sets a new cookie and starts a new session each time. The time for a session reset can vary from website to website, but it is generally around an hour. If you put items in a cart and are going to be away from the cart for an extended period of time, it is best to log out of the site and then to log back in before continuing to place items into your cart or making a purchase. If you have a rewards account neglecting to log in could prevent you from accumulating rewards.
There are sites that allow you to click a button that will keep you logged in indefinitely (i.e. Amazon, Walmart, Target), however, this is usually not a good practice as anyone could potentially come to those sites and place an unauthorized order without your knowledge. This could also lead to malware/viruses compromising your information.
In the end, it is always best to log in and log out of all activity on all sites. Log in when you buy from us!
