|
Go to article category Hot topics
E-tailers beware: Office of Fair Trading 'web sweep' imminent
Is your e-commerce website compliant? The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in partnership with the Local Authority Trading Standards Services has announced a 'web sweep' of the top 600 UK retail websites to ensure they comply with key e-tailing laws. Particular attention will be paid to the Distance Selling Regulations (the Regulations).
The Regulations deal with business-to-consumer sales made in a non-face-to-face context, so they apply to internet sales. They set out a number of consumer rights, including seven-day post-purchase cancellation rights, a right to a refund and a raft of information that must be provided pre- and post-sale.
Despite estimates that 14 billion will be spent by consumers online this Christmas, recent research by the OFT indicates that few online shoppers are aware of additional legal protection provided by the Regulations and many websites may be failing to respect consumers' rights.
Year on year the number of people choosing to do their Christmas shopping online is increasing, so the timing of this review is clearly no coincidence. The Regulations have been with us since 2000, but interpretation and application of the rules has not been consistent.
The standard terms of many e-tailers already include the right to cancel. However, many still impose other terms that are not compliant, in particular in relation to the return of goods a significant operational pressure around Christmas.
And it's not just these Regulations that apply. The OFT also mentions the E-Commerce Regulations 2002, under which e-tailers must provide shoppers with certain information, including the identity, location, contact details, geographical addresses and clear pricing statements.
It will be interesting to see whether they also look at compliance with other consumer protection regulations at the same time, particularly limits on liability.
For some in the retail sector this may well prove to be unwelcome scrutiny at a busy time of year. Although the OFT says the aim of the exercise is to 'publish an [anonymised] assessment of the web sweep results after the New Year', any bad PR associated with an adverse finding would be particularly untimely if released pre-Christmas.
In reality, this may well be a wake-up call for the sector as a whole; particularly if some of the larger e-tailers are found to be deficient. Many of the smaller e-tailers rely on larger brands to lead the way and assume they have got it right, even 'borrowing' terms and conditions from the bigger sites. That can all too often be a false assumption.
Although guidance has been issued, there has been little visible enforcement activity around the Distance Selling Regulations and this has led to complacency by some e-tailers about the legal compliance issues around e-tailing. It looks as though the OFT is minded to do something about that.
Click on "Download" below to see the results of the OFT Web Sweep Analysis.
www.eversheds.com Paula Barrett 2007-11-28
