Building an e-commerce site often becomes necessary for many companies. If they often know how to obtain it and who to contact to get it set up on the web, they should also understand the obligations that will allow them to avoid legal hurdles and understand good practices.
huge e-commerce market
France will have more than 200,000 active merchant sites in 2021, with a turnover of 146.7 billion euros according to Favad, a huge increase when we know that in 2018 it weighed in at “only” 81.7 billion. A huge market which offers many business opportunities. Their attractive features remain that they reach a large clientele 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with competitive prices compared to physical stores.
How to make your e-commerce site?
To open an e-commerce site, you do not need to code your site. You may very well consider going through a selling platform or marketplace where it is possible to open a professional account, such as eBay, Amazon Marketplace or Priceminister. Another solution if you don’t want to hire developers is to rent a “turnkey” hosted e-commerce solution, also known as “SaaS” (“software as a service”), from a specialized service provider. .
Build your e-commerce site from A to Z, completely personalized, built by a developer or web agency or with an open source content management system (or CMS) (whose source code has been made available to viewers) Create But this choice is not the easiest as it requires technical knowledge and more to manage your site hosting.
Which domain name should you give your site?
While creating an e-commerce site, it is necessary to choose a specific name or a brand for the site but before taking any step it is necessary to check whether the name is already in use. A domain name is purchased through a registrar. You can also consult the domain name availability search tools offered by the French Association for Internet Naming in Cooperation (AFNIC).
The DGCCRF warns you to check that the link is associated with your domain name, especially if it was purchased for you by a service provider. “Otherwise, the domain name will not be yours”…” Worse, the service provider may ask you for money to resell your own domain name. »
What mandatory information appears on your e-commerce site?
The legal notices that appear on your site are:
- Company name, legal form, address of establishment or head office and amount of share capital for the company or your surname, first name and domicile if you are an individual entrepreneur;
- an email address and a telephone number;
- name of the publication manager;
- registration number in the Trade and Companies Register (RCS) and the Inter-Community VAT number;
- contact details of the site host;
- General Terms of Sale (GTC): Price in Euro including taxes, cost and delivery time, payment terms, right of withdrawal, etc.;
- CNIL simplified declaration number;
- Any specific elements depending on your status (registration number in the trade directory for a craft activity, professional rules for regulated professions, etc.).
right of withdrawal?
Note: Buyer has 14 days right of withdrawal. Of course, there are limits when it comes to withdrawals. Indeed, perishable, clean, cosmetic products or downloadable files cannot be returned to the merchant. Customer refunds must be made within 14 days of the consumer’s decision to return. In case of delay, a 10% surcharge may be applied to the merchant. Refunds must be made through the same channel that the customer used at the time of purchase. Otherwise, the merchant must have their customer’s agreement.
Should the website be declared to CNIL?
E-commerce sites must generally make a declaration to the National Commission for Computing and Liberties (CNIL) because of the processing of personal data associated with the customer file. Similarly, if your site collects or reads “cookies” (“tracers” deposited and/or read during a site’s consultation) on Internet users’ computers, you must inform customers about the purpose of the cookies. I must inform, obtain and provide their consent. With the means to deny it to them. The period of validity of this consent is maximum 13 months.
Attention !
CNIL recommends that prior consent or right to object be collected by means of a checkbox. Use of already marked boxes is prohibited as it is against the law.