The legal side of your eCommerce plays an important role in whether a customer decides to buy. To get customers to buy, and even keep them coming back, you need terms and conditions that are legally compliant and user-friendly. H&A, the leading Spanish law firm and industrial and intellectual property agency in Spain, Portugal and Latin America, walks us through the 5 legal keys to keep in mind:
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Cookie notice and settings panel
You’re required to inform users about which cookies your website uses and let them manage them as soon as they access your site. The information must be clear and simple, it should be easy to accept or reject cookies, and the settings panel should be multi-device, meaning it works on any device.
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Company identification
Include your company’s contact details, including its Companies Register information, so that, in addition to complying with Spanish Law 34/2002 of 11 July on information society services and electronic commerce (LSSI), you build trust with customers who want to buy on your website.
You can also obtain an accreditation or trust seal, such as Trusted Shops.
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Privacy policy
In recent years, especially since the entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (GDPR), and of the Spanish Organic Law 3/2018 of 5 December on the Protection of Personal Data and Guarantee of Digital Rights (LOPDGDD), we as users have become aware of our digital rights and care about how our personal data is handled online.
Being transparent and using friendlier language when presenting your privacy policy can mean more sales.
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Terms and conditions.
They are the contract between the store and the customer, and they must always be available on the website.
Just as with privacy, consumers have minimum, enforceable rights, regulated by the Spanish General Law for the Protection of Consumers and Users and other complementary laws.
You must clearly set out users’ conditions and rights in your terms and conditions, because if relevant pre-contractual information is omitted, consumer contracts will be interpreted, under the principle of objective good faith, in the consumer’s favor.
Finally, in addition to national regulations, we’ll need to review regional regulations (each Spanish autonomous community has its own consumer regulations) and sector-specific ones (healthcare, consumer goods, services, etc.).
4.1 Withdrawal and returns policy
As a general rule, consumers have the right to withdraw from a purchase or contract made online within 14 calendar days. But be careful: if we don’t inform users of this right clearly, understandably and precisely, the 14-day period becomes 12 months. When users withdraw or use the warranty, they must not bear the associated costs.
This right isn’t absolute and in some cases can’t be exercised, such as when buying transport tickets or concert tickets.
4.2 Prices and warranty
We must state the price of the product or service clearly and accurately, indicating whether or not it includes applicable taxes and, where relevant, shipping costs. You must also state who pays for shipping: the customer or the seller.
In general, the warranty for new products is two years. During this period, consumers are entitled to have the product repaired or replaced, to a price reduction, or to terminate the contract and get a refund.
4.3 Venue and jurisdiction
State the venue and the law applicable between the parties, inform users that they can use the online consumer dispute resolution procedure, and include a direct link to the page where consumers can file a complaint.
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Security certificate
Check that your website uses a secure communication protocol (HTTP) and has a valid security certificate (SSL). That way, data travels encrypted and users see your site as secure.
Now you have the keys to a secure eCommerce. Need advice? H&A is available for any legal advice you may need, with more than 165 professionals and 35 years of experience.
