The Consumer Regulations Guide to Online Business

THE CONSUMER REGULATIONS GUIDE FOR ONLINE BUSINESSES GETTING YOUR ONLINE TERMS AND CONDITIONS RIGHT WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? UK ONLINE RETAIL SALES ARE THE HIGHEST IN EUROPE UNITED SWEDEN £3.61 NETHERLANDS KINGDOM £5.09 BILLION BILLION POLAND £44.97 £3.57 BILLION BILLION GERMANY £35.36 BILLION 2) 3) 8. FRANCE £26.38 BILLION SPAIN £6.87 ITALY BILLION £5.33 BILLION INTERNET SALES ARE GROWING IN BRITAIN Value of monthly GB internet sales in millions (comparing June of each year) 729 643 546 475 390 331 268 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 WHAT ARE THE NEW REGULATIONS? Consumer law changed in June 2014 The Consumer Contract Regulations* apply to contracts entered into with consumers, including those for the purchase of goods, services and digital content bought online, at a distance, or away from your trading premises from 13 June 2014 1 DAY I ORDER PLACED The consumer's obligation to pay must be perfectly clear PAY NOW You must publicise and confirm a long list of pre-contract information 9. 7 7 DAYS OLD NEWS! The cooling off period used to be 7 working days That will now only apply to contracts entered into before 13 June 2014 13 14 22 14 DAYS THE ONE TO REMEMBER! The consumer now has 14 days to cancel their order from the day after they: I. receive the goods; or 2. they agree to buy services or digital content; no quibbles! Once they've notified you, they have 14 days to return goods to you One you have the goods, you have 14 days to pay the refund 30 27 30 DAYS MAX! Unless you and the consumer have agreed otherwise: you must deliver the goods without undue delay, and at most within 30 calendar days of the date that the contract was concluded WHY COMPLY? Avoid the regulators Keep your customers taking action against you happy WHY DOES GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE MATTER? Customer satisfaction in the UK has fallen for the third consecutive 6 month period 24% - 55% of people seek excellent of highly satisfied customers for an organisation customer service and are prepared to pay for it recommend it 60% - 88% of consumers will not of customers providing high customer satisfaction scores for accept low levels of service in exchange for a cheap deal an organisation rate their likelihood of remaining a customer at 9 out of 10 or higher DON'T RUIN YOUR REPUTATION ONLINE AVOID THE #BASHTAG Speak to a solicitor for advice Read our guidance on the consumer regulations Review your terms and conditions Train your customer Make sure your website & order process complies service team visit us at waterfront solicitors LLP www.waterfrontsolicitors.co.uk Sources: Centre for Retail Research. Office of National Statistics Retail Sales comparison of online sales in June 2008-2014. All customer service statistics taken from the Institute of Customer Service UKCSI Customer Satisfaction Index, July 2014 *Guide refers to the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013