EU ecommerce legal requirements, explained

What the store must display, requirement by requirement

These requirements come from EU directives, which each member state writes into its own law. They cover sales to consumers: a store that only sells to businesses falls under other rules.

• Who the seller is: name, geographic address, email, and registration and VAT numbers where they apply (Directive 2000/31/EC, Article 5). The guide on EU website imprint requirements covers what France adds.
• Prices that say clearly whether they include tax and delivery (Article 5(2)), and, at the latest when ordering starts, the payment methods accepted and any delivery restrictions (Directive 2011/83/EU, Article 8).
• The legal guarantee of conformity: the seller is liable for defects that appear within two years of delivery (Directive (EU) 2019/771, Article 10). A reminder that it exists is part of the information due before the order.
• The right of withdrawal: fourteen days, the model withdrawal form, who pays for returns, and the cases where the right does not apply (Directive 2011/83/EU, Articles 9 to 16).
• The online withdrawal function: since June 19, 2026, a contract concluded on a website must be cancellable on that website, free of charge, for the whole withdrawal period (Directive (EU) 2023/2673).
• The dispute resolution body: its name and website address, on the store and in the terms of sale, when the trader uses one (Directive 2013/11/EU, Article 13). In France, every trader selling to consumers must name a consumer mediator (Code de la consommation, L616-1, in French).
• The order button: it reads "order with obligation to pay" or an equally unambiguous wording (Directive 2011/83/EU, Article 8(2)).
• Customer reviews: a store that shows them says whether and how it checks that they come from people who bought or used the product (Directive (EU) 2019/2161).

Most of this information is due before the order: that is when the customer needs it, and that is where the law expects it.

The link to the EU dispute platform is now a flaw

For almost ten years, stores had to link to the EU online dispute resolution platform. Regulation (EU) 2024/3228 shut it down: it stopped taking complaints after March 20, 2025, and closed on July 20, 2025.

Terms of sale written before that date still carry the link. It now points to a service that no longer exists, and it steers customers away from the national dispute body, which is still required.

What we find on the sites we audit

This percentage covers about 10 websites we audited between August 14, 2026 and September 24, 2026, the ones where this point could be checked. Many were audited because a defect showed up quickly, so the figure describes our audits, not websites in general.

On the other points, too few stores have been examined to give a percentage. We have found a legal guarantee never mentioned, a consumer mediator never named, withdrawal information missing several elements, and a link to the closed EU platform.

What the audit reads on a store

The audit first establishes that the site sells at a distance to consumers. When the evidence is not enough, the points below are reported as not verifiable, never as compliant. It then reads the pages and the terms of sale.

• The legal guarantee: whether it is mentioned. The audit records the mention; it does not judge how the clause is written.
• Withdrawal: whether it is mentioned, then four elements: the period, the model form, who pays for returns, and the exceptions. The information is reported as incomplete when at least two are missing.
• The dispute body: a named consumer mediator. The word "mediation" alone is not enough, because it is also used for cultural or family mediation.
• The link to the closed EU platform, wherever it appears.
• Reviews: when the site shows a numeric rating or names a review platform, the audit looks for the information on how reviews are checked.
• The order button, in a quoted audit where you allow us to go through the checkout. We never place an order: if the confirmation screen asks for an identity, the point is reported as not verified.

Terms of sale that are not among the analyzed pages are not counted as missing: the point is reported as not verified.

These obligations are only one part of an ecommerce website audit, which also looks at the store's security, speed and accessibility.

What is quick to fix, and what takes a project

Most gaps are text: naming the mediator, mentioning the legal guarantee, completing the withdrawal information, removing the link to the closed platform, saying how reviews are checked. They are fixed in the terms of sale and the existing pages.

The order button label is usually a setting in the theme or the store platform. The online withdrawal function is a project: it needs a path in the customer account or on the site, and an acknowledgment sent to the customer.

What this check doesn't tell you

By Quentin Mathis, Z29K · updated September 28, 2026