Terms & Conditions
The
following are typical areas that an ecommerce site should address in its terms
and conditions however this is not an exhaustive list.
- Disclaimer of liability will specify the damages that one party e.g.
ecommerce store owner, will be obligated to provide to the other e.g.
customer, in the event of product failure and should reflect the level of
risk involved. It will also specify what the ecommerce store
owner will not be responsible for in the event of any loss,
liability, damage (whether direct, indirect or consequential), personal
injury or expense of any nature whatsoever which may be suffered by the
customer.
- Intellectual Property/Trademarks – e-commerce businesses are often more vulnerable
to intellectual property theft, whether it be your images, design,
content, logos, product descriptions or the overall look and feel of your
website. An intellectual property clause should act to ensure that brands
or trademarks are not misused in any way and clearly state that nothing
contained within the website should be construed as granting any license
or the right to use any trademark without the prior written consent of the
owner of the website.
- Payment Terms should
set out how payment is to be made when purchasing products and/or services
from your website. More often than not, full payment is required when an
order is placed by a customer. This means that as an ecommerce store, you
are not required to provide any goods until payment has been received.
Some ecommerce sites will stipulate that until payment has actually
cleared, no orders will be dispatched. In the case where payment does not
clear, the ecommerce site has a right to cancel the order completely. These
extra clauses serve as further protection to a business.
- Data Protection should
disclose how customer’s personal information will be used, stored and
protected.
- Delivery Terms should
cover both shipping and delivery and would typically include what the delivery
costs are and how shipping charges are calculated but also (where third
party service providers are involved) that the quality of delivery cannot
be guaranteed.
- Product Information & Warranties should set out clear terms on how products
can be purchased, whether there are any restrictions e.g. the restriction
of sale for age-restricted products and services, and what happens in the
event that a product cannot be supplied. Some online stores will also
include warranty information as part of their terms and conditions whereas
others will have a separate Warranty policy.
- Right to cancel – This
clause should set out the circumstances in which the customer has the
right to cancel their order, the process in which they must follow in
cancelling their order and any other requirements e.g. goods must remain
unused and returned in it’s original packaging.
- External Links are
often provided on sites for the user’s convenience but there should be a
clause to state that the links, and the related content, are outside of
the control of the ecommerce store owner and usage should be at the
user’s/customer’s own risk.
- Website Terms of Use simply sets out the terms for accessing a website and
applies to every single visitor. The terms of use usually cover items such
as privacy and prohibited uses of the website.