Lawyer for e-commerce law and online retail

Making online retail legally sound

Quick start: what is your matter about?

Your contact: Andreas Buchholz

Partner, Fachanwalt für IT-Recht (certified specialist lawyer for IT law) and E-Commerce Manager (IHK). Together with Timocin Can and Otto Weidenkeller.

Send an e-commerce enquiry

What happens after your enquiry?

After your enquiry, we will get back to you within 24 hours on working days. The first contact is free of charge. Before any costs are incurred, we will inform you explicitly.

1. A short description is enough. Briefly describe your shop, sales channels and the occasion. Links to product pages, current legal texts, screenshots of the checkout and, in the case of a warning letter, the letter with all deadlines are helpful.
2. Receipt and initial sorting. We assess the enquiry on the basis of the project described, the documents and the apparent goal. Deadlines and dates should be clearly recognisable.
3. Suitable starting point and cost range. We clarify whether an initial consultation, a service package or a specific mandate is the next step. As soon as the scope of the review is clear, we tell you the cost range – before work begins.

Typical cases from our e-commerce practice

The following constellations are abstracted and simplified. How a case turns out depends on the shop, sales channel and documentation.

What you will have at the end

What e-commerce law means for companies in practice

Legal problems in online retail rarely arise from a single missing sentence. Usually several topics interlock at the same time. The product page must be understandable and complete, the checkout must be legally clean and price advantages must be presented correctly.

Advertising must not be misleading. Technical processes such as customer accounts, tracking or newsletters must work robustly in daily practice.

That is precisely why e-commerce law is a cross-cutting topic for companies. It combines contract law issues with competition law, data protection, platform-specific features and, depending on the business model, also with IP rights, product safety or regulatory requirements for digital offerings.

Why companies make mistakes here particularly often

Many shops are developed along conversion or marketing goals and only legally reviewed later. This often leads to friction between design, engineering, sales and the legal situation. Particularly risky are constellations in which product texts, price indications, checkout, campaign mechanics and legal texts were not conceived from a common structure.

Where online retail typically becomes vulnerable

Most conflicts in e-commerce begin long before a warning letter. They often arise where sales, engineering, content and customer communication interlock.

A single offer can touch several areas of law at once

Even a single product page can raise questions of distance selling law, price indications, competition law, data protection and, for physical goods, product safety or labelling. Looking at individual texts or fields in isolation is therefore usually not enough.

When you need us

Companies usually seek legal support in online retail when economic pressure already exists. This is the case, for example, before a relaunch, with growing sales, before entering new sales channels or immediately after a conflict.

When an early review makes particular sense

Before a relaunch, before a larger pricing or campaign logic, when entering a marketplace and with private label or imports. Also whenever the shop, marketing and customer account are adapted in parallel. In these phases, the economic leverage of a legal structure is particularly high.

Shop, checkout & information obligations

Many legal problems in e-commerce begin directly in the visible sales process. Product page, shopping cart and checkout must therefore be user-friendly and at the same time legally robust.

What matters most in the shop

• clear product presentation, variants, delivery terms and availability
• clean price indications, shipping cost logic and additional costs
• a legally sound order button and a comprehensible order summary
• genuine separation of B2B and B2C flows where both areas are affected
• consistent integration of terms and conditions, withdrawal, payment and returns logic

Under Section 312j BGB (opens in a new tab), an order button for consumers must be clearly labelled with “zahlungspflichtig bestellen” (“order with obligation to pay”) or a correspondingly unambiguous wording. Delivery restrictions and accepted means of payment must be stated at the latest at the start of the ordering process. Under Section 312g BGB (opens in a new tab), there is generally a right of withdrawal for distance contracts; under Section 355 BGB (opens in a new tab), the period is 14 days.

Typical conflict in practice

Many shop optimisations understandably aim at conversion. It becomes legally problematic when one-click elements, bundles, upsells, express checkout, mandatory accounts or subscription logic are integrated in such a way that information obligations or contractual clarity suffer. For subscription models, the cancellation button under Section 312k BGB (opens in a new tab) must also be observed.

In-depth topics at ITMR

Having terms and conditions drafted, GDPR website / privacy policy, Telephone number in an online shop (in German) and Right of withdrawal: the mattress case (in German).

Platform sales & marketplace issues

Selling via Amazon, eBay or other marketplaces opens up reach but brings its own legal risks. Platform rules and statutory requirements are not identical and must be kept clearly apart in a conflict.

Particularly relevant for retailers

• listings, product data, trade mark references and responsibilities in the presentation of offers
• interaction of platform rules, your own communication and statutory obligations
• suspensions, sanctions, refunds, reviews and documentation issues
• special features of fulfilment, dropshipping, private label or multichannel models

What is often misunderstood

Compliance with internal platform requirements does not automatically protect against competition law or other claims. Conversely, a suspension or other platform measure is not necessarily the final legal answer. Especially with listings, price indications and trade mark references, an independent review is regularly required.

Relevant internal in-depth pages

Competition law for market conduct and warning letter issues, trade mark law for listing and origin conflicts, and this article on eBay and platform warning letters (in German).

Price indications, advertising & reviews

In online retail, considerable risks often arise in marketing and not only in the checkout. Price advertising, discount mechanics, presentation of reviews and existing customer communication must therefore be convincing in their overall effect, both legally and commercially.

The overall presentation is legally decisive

Statements such as “free”, “today only”, “best price”, RRP comparisons or aggressive scarcity elements must stand up both as individual statements and in context with the product page, asterisk notes, shopping cart and checkout. This is where the greatest potential for warning letters lies in practice.

For price reductions on goods, Section 11 PAngV (opens in a new tab) requires that consumers be shown the lowest total price of the last 30 days before the reduction.

ITMR pages

Marketing law, advertising law, competition law, newsletter marketing check, price indications in e-commerce (in German) and having a review deleted.

Tracking, customer account & shop data protection

Data protection in an online shop is not a side issue. It concerns everyday sales reality, from the consent banner and customer account to newsletter and CRM integration. It is precisely at these interfaces that structural weaknesses often become apparent.

Typical review areas

• consent banners, rejection options and granularity
• analytics, tag managers, pixels, A/B tests and retargeting
• customer account, guest checkout, data minimisation and deletion logic
• newsletter, CRM and support integrations
• vendor chains, third-country transfers and internal documentation

Where practical risks arise

Many shops are technically well set up and therefore seem inconspicuous at first glance. It becomes critical, however, when banners, tool set-up, privacy notices and internal responsibilities do not fit together consistently. A purely technical process then quickly turns into a legal and reputational problem.

In depth for shop operators

For more in-depth tracking and website questions, companies should move on specifically to data protection law and GDPR website / privacy policy. We also address a practical individual question in the article Guest access in an online shop (in German). In disputes with data subjects, privacy litigation helps.

Digital products, coaching, private label & import

The need for legal review increases significantly as soon as not only classic goods are sold. Digital products, memberships, coaching offers, own-brand products or import models bring additional requirements that are often not properly reflected in standard shops.

Special caution with hybrid business models

Combinations of digital content, community access, memberships, coaching, physical add-on services or an own brand often look straightforward from the outside. Legally, however, they are considerably more demanding. Here, the contract and sales logic should be reviewed particularly early.

Accessibility, product safety & new markets

As an online business grows, the legal requirements regularly shift as well. Anyone addressing new countries, adding product groups or further developing digital interfaces should consider regulatory obligations early. This applies before a problem has arisen.

Particularly relevant in practice

• accessibility of digital sales interfaces
• obligations in connection with consumer products
• additional requirements for imports and EU distribution
• language- and market-specific localisation of offer flows

Why these topics are commercially relevant

Regulatory requirements have a direct impact on the product page, checkout, sales channel, product range and liability profile. Growing companies should therefore treat these questions as part of their sales structure.

In-depth pages

IT law for digital regulation in the wider context, IT compliance for governance and documentation structures, and BFSG (Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz, German Accessibility Strengthening Act; in German).

Warning letters, suspension, reversal & enforcement

Once a conflict has arisen, the substantive legal situation and the right approach in the first steps are jointly decisive. In online retail, a few days can determine visibility, costs, revenue and negotiating power.

For warning letters from competitors concerning breaches of information and labelling obligations in electronic commerce, reimbursement of warning letter costs is excluded under Section 13 UWG (opens in a new tab) para. 4. The claim for injunctive relief may nevertheless exist.

What often goes wrong after receiving a warning letter

• Cease-and-desist declarations are signed without review.
• Objected content is deleted without securing screenshots and data records.
• The problem is only fixed in the shop, not in feeds, apps, campaigns or marketplaces.
• Internal communication starts before the risk, deadlines and objective are clear.

Further advice at ITMR

Depending on the business model, e-commerce mandates are often followed by further specialist questions. The following topics are particularly often relevant in online retail.

Selected articles closely related to e-commerce (in German)

• Is guest access mandatory? Online shop with marketplace function
• Online shops do not necessarily need a telephone number
• Price indications in e-commerce
• Federal Court of Justice (BGH) on the liability of online retailers
• Risk for eBay sellers
• Application of the FernUSG to online coaching contracts

Key terms in e-commerce law

Distance contract (Fernabsatzvertrag)

Contract concluded exclusively by means of distance communication, such as an online shop.

Right of withdrawal (Widerrufsrecht)

The consumer's right under Section 312g BGB to withdraw from the contract within 14 days under Section 355 BGB.

Order button (Bestellbutton)

Button that, under Section 312j BGB, must clearly indicate the obligation to pay.

Cancellation button (Kündigungsbutton)

Button for terminating continuing obligations under Section 312k BGB.

Strikethrough price (Streichpreis)

Advertising with a crossed-out previous price. For goods, the lowest price of the last 30 days must be stated under Section 11 PAngV.

Abmahnung (formal warning letter)

Demand to cease certain conduct and to submit a cease-and-desist declaration backed by a contractual penalty.

Private label

Sale of products under your own brand, often manufactured by third parties.

The terms are for orientation. The provisions and the specific business model are decisive.

Provisions and sources

The following sources support the new statements on this page. The provisions are German law (DE), partly implementing Union law. We cover platform obligations under Union law on Implementing the DSA.

FAQ on e-commerce law

The following questions address typical concerns of businesses. The specific business model and the actual implementation in the shop or on the platform always remain decisive.

Contacts for e-commerce mandates at ITMR