Important Rules and Regulations for Running a UK ecommerce Platform

Tuesday, August 20th, 2019

To own an ecommerce store or offer a service online in the UK, a retailer must comply with some rules and regulations. Website operators must include some info on specific pages in their sites or in the course of the customer’s journey.

These include critical data like company or business information (a retailer’s name and registration number), reasonable pricing, the procedure a customer must follow to complete an online contract and contact information for any complaints.

A merchant must also draft a detailed ‘Terms of Use’ for their website and prominently display it on for customers to see. Your ‘Terms & Conditions’ must be in line with the policies of sales to make sure you comply with data protection rules like the ‘privacy policy’ and ‘cookies policy.’

Selling to Customers (B2C) and other Businesses (B2B) Online in the UK

Business owners must also follow some rules governing the trade of goods through sites in the UK.

While B2C sales are more strictly secured than B2B transition, a business can use the same sales structure unless they intend to use a unique sales structure for each interaction. However, a merchant must operate in line with customer sales rules for all consumers.

Take, for example, the rule that enables a consumer to cancel any online contract within the ‘cooling-off’ span, usually a fortnight or 14 days. Plus, there are some terms and conditions in a sales contract that a merchant can’t ignore. There are also terms which will be ruled out automatically as unfair if you add them to your ‘terms & conditions.’

That is to say; it makes more sense to include well-though-out terms and conditions and exclude the ones you feel are impractical.

Some of the Most Important Regulations for UK Businesses

The following are some of the most important rules that may affect or threaten to ruin a business’s bottom line if not followed to the letter.

Advertisement and Promotions

You must advertise and promote your products or services without breaking the stipulated rules. Be transparent and very honest about your offerings; do not use misleading statements, and so on.

It also helps to learn that a different set of laws apply for initiating campaigns with social media influencer or celebrity endorsements.

Privacy and Data Protection

You must comply with data privacy rules because you will be handling confidential customer data in hundreds, thousands, or hundreds of thousands

The UK has complex rules controlling the use and management of consumer data gathered by a business before they sell goods or services. Operating against any of the above rules may result in costly lawsuits and hefty fines.

Final words

Apart from the rules listed above, you must also adhere to industry-specific regulations, based on the services or items you sell to ensure you always operate in line with the law.