OK, so you’ve done it.  You’ve made the decision to invest in a new website in order to open up a new revenue stream by selling your products online.  BUT have you considered the legalities of it all?

As with high street retailers, there are laws in place to protect consumers, such as, The Sales of Goods Act.  As well as these, there is also the Distance Selling Regulations to take into account.  These regulations were put in place to offer protection to consumers who choose to purchase goods and services via phone, mail order, the internet or digital TV.  As many as 52% of eCommerce sites* are breaking these rules in some way - so you need make sure yours isn't one of them.  Here's a brief guide to the rules and regulations.

In brief, these regulations specify that:

• Consumers must be given clear information about the goods and services offered before buying.
• Confirmation of the purchase is given in writing.
• Goods must be delivered within thirty days unless otherwise agreed.
• Customers have a cooling off period. Where the supply is goods, it ends seven working days after receipt of the goods.  In the case of services, it ends seven working days after the day the order is made, unless the customer agrees to the commencement of the service within seven days, where the right to cancel ends when the service starts.
• Where customers have notified in writing or another durable method, their intentions of cancelling the contract, all monies paid must be refunded within thirty days.
• The customer is given protection from credit card fraud.

The regulations do not apply to:

• Business to business contracts.
• Financial services sold at distance – these are covered in the Financial Services (Distance Marketing) Regulations.
• Contracts for the sale of land – the regulations do cover consumer rental agreements though.
• Products purchased from a vending machine.
• Goods or services bought at an auction with an auctioneer.

The seven day cooling off period does not apply to:

• The purchase of goods made to customer’s specification.
• Perishable goods such as flowers or fresh food.
• CDs, DVDs and tapes with software, audio or video if unsealed.
• Newpapers and magazines.
• Betting, gaming and lotteries.

These regulations are intended to protect the interests of the consumer, but if used as the basis for your online selling policy, could inspire confidence in you as a trustworthy supplier which in turn would reflect in the volume of repeat sales generated through your website, something not to be sneezed at in the current economic climate.

As a supplier of e-commerce solutions, PureNet recommend that the following steps are taken when implementing an ecommerce site:

• Be clear in the description of the goods and services that you are providing.  When selling a specific product, where possible, use a visual aid and include details of colour or size variations available to help avoid any confusion when ordering.
• State your terms of trade clearly and in a way that will be easy for customers to understand, including your returns policy.  When a customer decides exercise the right to cancel the contract within seven days, you do not have to pay to collect the goods delivered from the customer, but you need to make your policy clear.
• When setting up your payment system, make sure you have a SSL certificate in place.  This will give your customers the confidence of knowing that your payment system is secure.
• Make sure that the customer receives a confirmation of the goods ordered and that they are kept up to date with the status and expected delivery date of their order.  Use some form of signed for delivery service so that you can track the progress of the order once it has left your premises, this will safeguard both your customer and you.

The reputation and continued success of your online business will be dependent upon the perceptions of your customers, not only through the goods you supply, but also the service and added value you can offer them.  This added value may not be something as visible as free delivery on goods but in the impression you make as a reliable trustworthy supplier.  As the saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush – you never know if you get it right, through word of mouth, you could get the two in the bush as well.

* office of fair trading