Capital sins in the information of the online stores and how to solve them

The lack of information or provide contradictory documentation on shipping costs or exceptions that are not admissible to the right of withdrawal are just some of the most common faults that can be found when buying online.

Information not available or contradictory about the shipping costs.

Often online retailers are missing information on shipping options. In many cases users find that the expenses indicated previously do not match the calculated actual expenses of the final shipment. It should be added to this situation that information on shipping costs is often incomplete: not all countries to which the products are supplied are listed, missing details and weights of the product groups and have not been registered possible reimbursement expenses that may arise.

How to solve it?

Before the customer places a product in the shopping list, he must be able to calculate the shipping costs, including additional costs, such as a shipment per carrier. If the shipping costs have been classified by weight, the weight of the shipment must be indicated on all pages with the possibility of direct ordering. In addition, the shipping costs that appear in the overview and the expenses that appear in the final order, must be the same.

Information not available or contradictory about delivery times and methods of payment.

From Trusted Shops we have discovered that in many product pages there is a lack of partial information on delivery times. What's more, different pages, such as product pages, general sales conditions, frequently asked questions, customer information or the ordering process, there is often a lot of information about the supplier that differs.

 

How to solve it?

To avoid a confusing mix of contradictory information, online merchants should only provide delivery time information on the relevant product pages, but in this case as accurate as possible. It is precisely in the general sales conditions that specific information on deadlines should be avoided. On the one hand, the customer expects in the first place indications about the delivery time of the product itself. On the other hand, the maintenance of the website is minimized when you only have to update once the delivery times.

Keep in mind that the information on payment methods is a potential improvement: PayPal, credit card or purchase on account? The list of final payment methods in online stores does not always match the one shown during the purchase process. If the merchant advertises on the main page of the store the possibility of payment by credit card, you must also offer a credit card section for payment transactions.

Lack of information regarding the use of data in the confidentiality policy

What about customer data that is collected through an online store? In examining the statements on the confidentiality policy, we have found that most of the documentation is incomplete. On a number of occasions, in the declarations about the confidentiality policy, it can be read that the customer data only serve for the processing of the contract of sale. The error comes when you use this data to send, for example, a newsletter. The e-mail address may be used for marketing purposes and for promotional purposes only if the customer has given his express consent, and this should be made clear in the confidentiality statement. To all this must be added other factors, such as information about cookies.

How to implement it?

It is recommended to first check the specific purposes for which personal data are collected in the store and the use made of these. Once they have been verified, they can be transparently informed in the declaration of confidentiality.

Erroneous information on the right of withdrawal

Information that is not updated or incomplete is constantly displayed in online stores on the right of withdrawal, especially regarding the rules on the assumption of shipping costs.

What is there to do?

Instead of setting their own rules, shop owners should use the current model of the General Consumer and Refund Policy, including the withdrawal form template.