Imprint and consumer-law information duties for EU online shops

Online shops sit at the intersection of e-commerce, consumer and price law. Most of the rules are old and stable; a few changed recently, and those are where audits most often find problems. This guide lists what a shop selling to consumers in the EU needs to show, and where each duty comes from.

The imprint: Article 5 of the e-Commerce Directive

Directive 2000/31/EC requires every provider of an information-society service to make the following “easily, directly and permanently accessible”:

• the provider’s name (for companies, the full legal name including the legal form);
• the geographic address where the provider is established (a post-office box is not enough);
• contact details allowing rapid, direct communication, including an e-mail address;
• the trade register and registration number, where registered;
• the supervisory authority, where the activity needs authorisation;
• for regulated professions: the professional body, the professional title and the Member State that granted it, and a reference to the applicable professional rules;
• the VAT identification number, where the activity is subject to VAT.

Member States add their own details: Germany in § 5 of the Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG, which replaced § 5 TMG in May 2024), Austria in § 5 ECG together with the disclosure duties of § 25 MedienG, Slovakia in Act No. 22/2004 Coll. on electronic commerce. A footer link labelled “Imprint” or “Legal notice” on every page is the common way to satisfy “easily and permanently accessible”.

Before the order: pre-contractual information

Article 6 of the Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU lists what a consumer must be told before a distance contract binds them. The core items are:

• the main characteristics of the goods or services;
• the trader’s identity, geographic address, telephone number and e-mail address;
• the total price including taxes, and all delivery or other charges;
• payment, delivery and performance arrangements;
• the conditions, time limit and procedure for exercising the right of withdrawal, plus the model withdrawal form (Annex I(B)) and who pays return costs;
• a reminder of the legal guarantee of conformity, and details of after-sales services and commercial guarantees;
• for digital content and services: functionality, compatibility and interoperability;
• where the price was personalised on the basis of automated decision-making, a statement saying so (Article 6(1)(ea), added by the Omnibus Directive).

The e-Commerce Directive (Article 10) adds information about the ordering process itself: the technical steps to conclude the contract, whether the contract will be stored and accessible, how to correct input errors, and the languages offered.

The order button

Article 8(2) CRD requires the trader to make the consumer explicitly acknowledge that the order implies an obligation to pay. If the order is placed by clicking a button, the button must be labelled only with the words “order with obligation to pay” or a corresponding unambiguous formulation. “Continue” or “Submit” is not enough; if the rule is not respected, the consumer is not bound. Delivery restrictions and accepted means of payment must be shown at the latest when the ordering process begins (Article 8(3)), and pre-ticked boxes for extra payments are prohibited (Article 22).

Withdrawal: 14 days and, since June 2026, a withdrawal function

Consumers may withdraw from a distance contract within 14 days without giving reasons (Article 9 CRD). If the trader fails to inform them about this right, the period is extended by up to twelve months (Article 10).

Directive (EU) 2023/2673 added Article 11a to the Consumer Rights Directive. For contracts concluded through an online interface, traders must provide a withdrawal function, labelled with the words “withdraw from contract here” or an unambiguous corresponding formulation, that is prominently displayed and available throughout the withdrawal period, and they must confirm receipt of the withdrawal on a durable medium. Member States apply these rules from 19 June 2026. A PDF form in the terms and conditions no longer satisfies the online part of this duty.

Prices, reductions and rankings

The Omnibus Directive 2019/2161 modernised several consumer directives at once. For shops, three changes matter most:

• Prior price in reductions. Any announcement of a price reduction must show the prior price, meaning the lowest price applied during a period of at least 30 days before the reduction (Price Indication Directive 98/6/EC, Article 6a).
• Ranking transparency. Where consumers can search across products, the main parameters that determine the ranking and their relative importance must be explained (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, Article 7(4a)). Paid placement that is not disclosed is blacklisted (Annex I, point 11a).
• Consumer reviews. A shop that shows consumer reviews must say whether and how it ensures they come from consumers who actually used or bought the product (Article 7(6) UCPD). Fake reviews and selective publishing to distort the picture are blacklisted (Annex I, points 23b and 23c).

Remove the ODR link, keep ADR information

For years EU online traders had to link to the European Online Dispute Resolution platform. Regulation (EU) 2024/3228 repealed that obligation and the platform closed on 20 July 2025. A stale ODR link is now simply a broken link and a sign the legal pages are not maintained. Information duties about alternative dispute resolution (ADR) bodies under Directive 2013/11/EU, where the trader is committed or obliged to use one, remain.

A quick self-audit

Several of the services we rate check some of these items automatically; the comparison matrix shows which ones publish a consumer-law check.