Retailers may well be scrutinising their high-street
presence in the face of uncertain economic times but also placing a
greater emphasis on expanding their online share, writes Vinod
Bange, an e-business and data privacy law expert atEversheds
. In doing so, they need to respect online governance, regulations
and laws such asdata protection.
The key points in this article highlight the key requirements in
ensuring that sale processes are compliant, legal and robust.
Information requirements: the company
Websites must make certain information available to consumers
(irrespective of whether any sales are made online) so it is clear
who consumers are dealing with. This includes providing:
- company name, postal address (and registered office address if
this is different) and e-mail address
- company registration number and VAT number
- trade or professional association memberships
- clear and unambiguous pricing (including taxes and delivery
charges)
Information requirements: the contract
Before customers begin navigating through the online sales
process, the site must:
- outline the steps involved in completing the sale online
- say whether the contract will be stored by the retailer and/or
made permanently accessible
- offer customer error flagging and correction functionality
- list the languages in which the contract can be concluded
- provide links to relevant codes of conduct
- set out terms and conditions (so customers can save and print
them) which make it clear who is selling the product, their postal
and e-mail address, clearly describe what the customer is getting
and what it will cost, including all taxes and delivery costs, and
set out the delivery arrangements
Before concluding the contract, retailers also have to provide
customers with the following information:
- the identity of the retailer
- price
- payment and delivery arrangements
- cancellation rights (the cooling-off period) should any
exist
The contract
Terms and conditions should be robust and not expose the
retailer to unnecessary risk from, say, pricing errors. This means
giving careful consideration to the following:
- clarifying the point at which the contract is formed and
ensuring that all stages of the sales process and subsequent
communications support that point without contradiction and
ambiguity
- effectively incorporating the terms and conditions into the
contract of sale
- providing the information required by the
Distance Selling Regulations, including (where applicable) the
right to a seven-day cooling-off period
Offline laws?
Many laws that apply to offline sales also apply to online
sales, so existing controls and processes should be transposed,
especially for areas such as:
Borrowing terms and conditions from other websites can create a
false assumption of legal assurance which will not address your own
risk profile or protect your brand. Tailor your online compliance
to your own online sales and fulfillment process.
Compliance beyond law?
As well as complying with existing laws and regulations,
retailers have compelling reasons to go further, especially given
the power of consumer opinion and backlash. Take, for example, the
various privacy lobbying groups and the speed at which they can
gather support and momentum to voice powerful opinion. Such opinion
can force e-businesses into u-turns in the face of negative
publicity against practices that may well be legally compliant but
stray into a zone that customers are not comfortable with.
Vinod Bange is an e-business and data privacy law expert at
Eversheds
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