Legal and compliance
What is Consumer rights?
The protections that apply automatically when a business sells to an individual, independent of contract terms. In the UK and EU they include the right to cancel a distance purchase within 14 days and remedies for goods that are faulty, misdescribed or unfit for purpose.
Also called: statutory rights · consumer protection
The rights that reach an online store
- 14 days to cancel most distance purchases, from the day of delivery
- Goods must be of satisfactory quality, as described, and fit for purpose
- A short-term right to reject faulty goods, then repair or replacement
- Clear pre-contract information — total price, delivery cost, cancellation rights
- Refunds within 14 days of the goods being returned
Terms cannot narrow them
A refund policy stating "all sales final" is void against a consumer where statutory cancellation applies. You may be more generous than the minimum and never less, and attempting less makes the whole document look untrustworthy.
The commercial reading
Stating the rights clearly before checkout removes the main hesitation of a first-time buyer. Compliance and conversion point the same direction here, which is not always true and is worth taking advantage of when it is.
Where this is covered in depth
A definition can only go so far. Why checkouts get abandoned, and which fixes belong in the build covers this properly — 2 minutes, free, no email required.
Who wrote this
Anas Bin Masud builds e-commerce sites and does technical SEO for businesses in the UK, Canada and Pakistan. These definitions come from client work rather than from a content brief — where an entry describes a mistake, it is usually one found on a real site. More about how I work.