In spite of the fact that establishing your online business is an astonishing opportunity to grow your business in the computerized world, there are some issues you have to be aware before you even set up an online store. The legal aspect of running an eCommerce website helps you define your business and your relationship with the customers.
The goal is to enable seamless cooperation and provide documents that regulate any issues that may happen en route. This makes working together a lot easier for you, however it also helps your customers to feel safe and confident about your business.
In any case, you should have in mind that the laws differ from nation to nation. To maintain a successful business online, it is recommended that you explore the laws that are substantial in your nation and how each of the following issues is resolved based on the applicable laws. It is also helpful to have some parts of regulations available as documents for your customers.
Not exclusively do these help protect you and your business, however they will also contribute to establishing a better relationship with the customers. Your company will in a split second appear more legitimate and professional, enabling customers to feel secure when buying from you.
Most of the documentation here follows a certain standardized structure, which needs to state commitments and privileges of the two parties involved, your business on one side and a customer on the other.
Trademark registration
A trademark is an important parts of owning a business because it protects the brand names and logos. It helps you promote your brand and establish a recognizable name on the market. Customers can identify a certain trademark with a certain brand, picking up you credibility and reputation.
Basically choosing a name isn’t enough because you have to make sure that you:
- Lead a trademark search – This way you check if anyone is utilizing the same name. If the name you are wanting to use is already a registered trademark, you should stay away from possible trademark infringements.
- Determine the name disarray – You should evaluate the likelihood of the name becoming recognizable and distinguished on the market. Analyze the industry and competitors to make this decision.
- Decide to register a trademark – If you want to protect your business and your brand, registering a trademark is a recommended choice. Your goal is to make this name recognizable and reliable among customers, so you do not to hazard anyone taking the name to enjoy the benefits or conceivably damage your reputation.
Countries offer formal trademark registration, which is used to protect the brand and the name associated with the brand. You should explore the regulations and the conditions for trademark registration, or you should hire legal help from someone who specializes in the legislation for the country where you work together.
Terms of use
Terms of use, also known as terms of service or terms and conditions, is a document that regulates the rules the users must agree to if they want to use the service. It is used for legal purposes, especially in cases when the personal data of the users are being stored, for example, the case with an eCommerce website. Each customer agrees to accept the terms of use that are provided by the site owners.
Besides being legally authoritative for the two parties, the terms of use can also be subject to change, which is something that is also highlighted as a piece of the document. As a website owner, your responsibility is to make the terms of use available to the users who want to review the file.
This document is often designed based on a certain template, as you will notice that most terms of use have similar sections as the part of the document. Those parts include:
User rights and responsibilities
The second part more often than not defines the user rights when it comes to the website, products, or services you provide. This section should also focus on user responsibilities and any activities that might be prohibited. Defining a proper way to use the website or service also helps to prevent misuse. This section may also feature the existence of a separate document that regulates the usage of the personal data.
Extra business information
Sometimes, it may be helpful or necessary to give more data about giving the service, just as possibilities that could lead to modifying or terminating the services due to a certain reason.
Disclaimer and confinement of risk
In this section of the terms of use, you clarify the legal obligation for the damages incurred by the users. This specific section helps you protect your business from any misfortune or damage that can’t be foreseen or are caused due to no blame of your own.
Company information
The initial segment of the document should provide the information about your company, as the purpose of the document is to regulate the relationship between your company and the online user.
The terms of use should regulate all aspects of working with customers, including every one of the phases where an issue may happen. When maintaining an eCommerce business, you should consider the terms related to the following segments:
- Terms of refunds
- Terms of delivery
- Terms of payment
- Terms of shipping
Each of these segments is an area where issues may happen, which is the reason it is helpful to have the terms ready to regulate the majority of the transactions. For example, if there is a problem with the delivery, you, just as the customer, can always refer to the terms of delivery. In essence, a customer must accept the terms of use before the exchange is initiated, which means that those conditions are applicable from that moment onwards.
Refund Policy
During an eCommerce transaction, the money is paid upfront, and in return, the product is sent and delivered within the specified timeframe. In this process, it is crucial to realize that refunds are sometimes required. It is a part of doing business online, and having a clear refunds policy on your website allows you to provide a bit of guarantee for the customers.
When you define the refunds policy, you determine the conditions under which the product can be returned. In the case of providing a service, it is also possible to issue a refund, but most service providers actually enable trial period instead. The period of 7 to 30 days is commonly used as a test period, during which the customer has the right to change his or her mind.
If the customers are eligible, they have the right to return the product and receive a full or partial refund.
When you provide refunds approach on your website and requesting to accept those terms before starting the exchange, you get customers to read and accept these terms. This way, they know about the conditions that apply when a customer wants to guarantee a refund, regardless if that guarantee is due to the product damage, failing to satisfy the expectations, etc.
Refunds requests
Dealing with refunds requests quickly is a way to establish a decent relationship with the customers and to pick up a decent reputation. Take every refund request with seriousness and treat customers reasonably. If they are eligible for a refund based on the conditions of the refunds policy, you are then obliged to issue a refund.
Sometimes a customer may request a refund even however conditions are not fulfilled for that refund to be issued. For instance, a customer should want to return the product after three months when the refunds policy states that the product might be returned inside 14 weeks. In these circumstances, you could always refer the customer to the refunds policy document.
Regulations defining refunds are generally part of the terms of use, yet they are a significant segment of the document. You should have this legal aspect in mind when creating the terms of use for your eCommerce website.
Privacy Policy
Another legal document, binding for you as a product/service provider and a customer, is used to define terms of gathering and dealing with customers’ data. Security policy is used as an official statement to protect customers’ security and any personal information gathered on the website.
Personal information can be whatever defines a user, for example, a name, address, the date of birth, contact information and even credit card information. These data are often provided by the users themselves when they fill in a structure, yet they can also be gathered using outsider integrations, for example, the usage of the cookies.
The important thing is to understand that as a business you can store and manage the data provided by the users, however you need to provide the information on how these data will be used. For example, the customers have the privilege to know if the data is kept confidential or shared with your partners, and this is something you should state in the security policy document.
Typically, a privacy policy document can include:
What you will do with the information
The customers have the privilege to know in what sort of purposes will the data be used, for example, for reaching the customers in the future, sending promotional announcements, etc. This section should also state whether you plan on sharing or even selling the information about the customers.
Reviewing and deleting information
The customers should have experiences into the information collected about them, just as the directions on the most proficient method to change or delete them. The customer can send a request for his or her data to be removed from your database in which case you have to follow up on this request.
Time period for putting away information
Information is often stored a lot later after the transaction is over. This is something you should inform the customers about.
The sort of information you collect
This information is required by the customer, and it is generally the name, the email address, etc.
How you collect the information
You should inform the customers how you collect and store the data. You could also mention the usage of cookies, in which case some data might be left on the user’s computer to track the habits and personalize the online experience.
When you are selling online, it is essential to be aware of all regulations and laws that are applicable in the country where you work together. In addition to the fact that it will be helpful over the long haul and help with successfully maintaining a business, yet being acquainted with the substantial regulations will also spare you any issues and disputes that may happen with customers.
The documents that regulate the usage of your eCommerce website should be accurate, current, substantial and concise. The customers should discover them easily on your website and review them before deciding to work with you. These documents keep your business credible in the mind of the customers while building trust in your brand.
