Order with obligation to pay: button rules

The required wording, and where it comes from

Article 8(2) of the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) covers distance contracts concluded by electronic means that require the consumer to pay. The trader must ensure that the consumer, when placing the order, explicitly acknowledges that the order implies an obligation to pay. If placing the order means activating a button, the button must be labeled in an easily legible manner only with the words "order with obligation to pay" or a corresponding unambiguous formulation.

The same paragraph covers the screen just before. Directly before the order is placed, the trader must show, clearly and prominently, the main characteristics of the goods or services, the total price and, where relevant, the duration of the contract.

The directive also states the consequence: if the trader does not comply, the consumer is not bound by the contract or order. Each member state wrote the rule into its own law; in France, it is Article L221-14 of the Consumer Code. The United Kingdom kept the same wording in its 2013 consumer contracts regulations.

Two Court of Justice rulings: a hotel, a pay-on-success service

The EU Court of Justice clarified the rule in two judgments, both answering questions from German courts:

• The April 7, 2022 judgment (case C-249/21, Fuhrmann-2) concerns a hotel booking confirmed with a button labeled "Buchung abschließen" (finish booking). To decide whether a wording corresponds to "order with obligation to pay", only the words on the button are taken into account. Traders may choose their own words, provided it is entirely clear that clicking binds the consumer to pay. The German court had to check whether the word used for "booking" is necessarily associated with paying; if not, the wording is ambiguous.
• The May 30, 2024 judgment (case C-400/22, Conny) concerns a service the customer paid for only if it succeeded. The obligation applies even when the consumer only has to pay once a later condition is met. If the trader did not comply, the consumer is not bound by the order, but nothing stops them from confirming it.

Two things follow for a store. A detailed order summary above a vague button makes up for nothing, since only the words on the button count. And deferred or conditional payment does not exempt the button from the rule.

Labels that name payment, and labels that hide it

The directive gives no list. Labels can be ranked by what they say about payment, and the audit follows that ranking:

• The model wording, "order with obligation to pay", which the directive itself provides.
• A label that names payment, such as "Pay now" or "Place order and pay": it says what the click triggers.
• A verb that only means moving on or finishing: "Continue", "Next" or "Submit". Nothing in it announces a payment, which is the case the rule is meant to exclude.
• In between, "Place order" or "Buy now". The directive does not settle them, and the Court left the assessment of a wording of this kind to the national court.

A label that names payment settles the question. An in-between label leaves it open.

One button per checkout path

A single store often has several paths to payment. The published report on a sporting goods store finds two calls to action on its product pages, "Ajouter au panier" (add to cart) and "Réserver" (reserve), and installment payment over 3 to 84 months. Each of these paths can end on its own confirmation screen, and so on its own button.

These points are settled with your agency, your developer or your e-commerce platform support:

1. Ask for the exact label of the button that places the order, on every path: guest checkout, account checkout, installment payment, subscription, reservation.
2. Require the model wording or a label that names payment. Turn down a bare "Continue" or "Submit", even if the total is displayed right above it.
3. If the store runs in several languages, have the label checked in each one: each language has its own text.
4. If customers only pay on success, or after some other condition, apply the same requirement: that is the case ruled on in 2024.
5. Have the label checked again after a theme update, a new payment plugin or a platform change: it can revert to its default.

On an e-commerce platform or a theme, changing the label means editing a text. On a custom-built checkout, it is a small code change to schedule. The button is one of the items owed before the order, listed in the guide on what an online store must display in the EU, next to the information owed on the right of withdrawal.

Reading the button without placing an order

This button sits at the end of the checkout. To reach it, the audit has to put an item in the cart, and that leaves a trace on your side: a cart session, an add-to-cart event in your analytics, sometimes reserved stock or an abandoned-cart reminder. So this path is only followed in a quoted audit, with your explicit permission. Ask for a quote.

The audit then moves from screen to screen using step buttons only, such as "Continue to shipping". It reads the label of the order button and never clicks it: no order is placed and no payment is attempted. There are three possible outcomes. A label that names payment raises no question. A bare "Continue", "Next" or "Submit" is counted as a defect. An in-between label, such as "Place order", is left undecided.

If a screen asks for an email or postal address before the order button, the audit does not make up an identity: the point stays unverified, and it is never counted as compliant. The methodology note states how far the checkout was followed, from product page to order screen, so you know what was read.