The High Street may not like it, but online shopping is a booming business. Worth an estimated £21bn in the UK in 2005, it can only have increased since. The latest OFT report on internet shopping highlights the significant savings consumers are making (between £150m and £240m a year) by choosing to buy online rather than in bricks and mortar shops.
However, the report also discloses a remarkably low awareness of consumer rights (56% of online shoppers are unaware of their statutory right to cancel) and the disappointing, if perhaps not unsurprising, fact that many e-tailers are themselves unaware of the legislative requirements for selling online in the UK: "59 per cent of electrical sites stated at least one condition on consumers’ rights to cancel and receive a refund which may have led to a breach of the regulations".
And cancellation rights are not the half of it. Within the myriad of relevant laws there are numerous obligations governing what information the seller has to provide. Failure to comply with these can lead to an extension of the customer's right to cancel - and having to pay back the money received. While many internet businesses are run on a budget, advice on the regulatory requirements and appropriate terms and conditions is relatively inexpensive and a crucial investment if online sales are the core of your income.
The legal requirements for online shops are not particuarly onerous, difficult to implement or intrusive on legitimate businesses. It is true that many e-tailers are currently failing to meet them without penalty. However, consumer protection issues are always high up the agenda and the OFT is clearly intent on improving compliance and consumer awareness: "However internet shopping evolves in the future, it seems clear that authorities charged with protecting consumers need to keep up and look ahead of the curve to new challenges."
Comments