Five Essential Terms and Conditions for eCommerce Businesses

When running your eCommerce business, it is a good idea to have terms and conditions, even though they are not a legal requirement. Terms and conditions are legally binding, so they create rules for those using your eCommerce business and also protect you from legal issues and potential legal action affecting your online business. Your terms and conditions for our online store, as a legal document, should comply with the law of the country you base your business in and be legally binding. Having robust terms and conditions for your eCommerce site, such as payment terms and intellectual property terms, enables your online business to progress. This article will explore five essential terms and conditions for eCommerce businesses in the UK.

1. Intellectual Property 

In your eCommerce business terms and conditions, it is essential to have a term covering intellectual property (IP). This refers mainly to your website and branding. IP is a significant legal issue for eCommerce businesses as you rely on the use of your website for your business, which will contain items such as your trademark and logo. 

2. Customer Account

Your eCommerce terms and conditions must explain the rules regarding creating an account on your website. You want to ensure your customers and those who visit your site are clear about what it means to make an account and that they abide by any rules you require them to. Accordingly, your customer account clause should specify that users must take responsibility for the following:

• account security;
• account privacy;
• their passwords; and
• any sensitive information.

You should also ensure that you insert a provision in your terms and conditions that makes it clear that you have the right to suspend or terminate your customer’s account. This is a right you may use where you believe a customer does not adhere to your terms and conditions or is acting illegally through the use of your website. 

3. Limiting Liability

You must limit your liability as an eCommerce business in specific situations. Essentially, this prevents third parties from seeking compensation from you based on their interaction with your business. You should limit your liabilities in terms of your customers and website users’ use of your eCommerce website. Limiting liability may include, for example:

• actions;
• claims;
• losses;
• damages;
• liabilities;
• expenses; and
• legal fees.

There are specific people you may want to state are included in this, such as your:

• directors;
• officers;
• agents;
• employees;
• subsidiaries; and 
• affiliates.

It is essential to limit your eCommerce business liability in terms of third-party goods and services that may feature on your website.

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4. Changes

Terms and conditions for any business, including an eCommerce business, will be subject to changes as the business progresses. It is, therefore, essential that you create a provision in your eCommerce terms to account for this. A term should:

• explain that you may amend the terms;
• say you may do this to comply with the law;
• point out that you may do so to show the difference in your new operating procedures;
• explain that changes may reflect how you expect customers and website users to behave when using your website; and 
• point out how you will let your eCommerce website users know you have amended your terms and conditions.

5. Applicable Law

When you create your eCommerce terms and conditions, you do so in line with a specific region’s law. Accordingly, your users need to know what this is. Therefore, a further essential term to include in your eCommerce terms and conditions is what law governs them. Generally, these are the laws of the country you operate from, or the business is registered in. 

Key Takeaways

As an eCommerce business in the UK, it is sensible to have terms and conditions for your website. These provide rules for your users and protect you from legal issues. This article explains five essential terms and conditions you should include when you create these. It points out that you must have terms regarding the IP rights to areas on your website. The article also explains that you should include a term about rules regarding customers’ accounts on the website. It is also essential to limit your liability in your terms and conditions as well as to state the law of the jurisdiction with which your terms comply. Finally, an important term for your eCommerce terms and conditions concerns changes made by you to them.

If you need help understanding five essential terms and conditions for your eCommerce business in the UK, our experienced eCommerce lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.