In an e-commerce, Terms of Use is the name given to a document of the “contract” type that sets out the rights and duties of the consumer and the shopkeeper when purchasing products in order to avoid or clarify situations in legal conflicts.
In other words, broadly speaking, this document can be used to:
• Clarify the ways in which products can be purchased in a specific virtual store, as well as how they can be returned or exchanged if necessary;
• Present the duties and consumer rights;
• Inform about how and in what period of time the services and activities in general of the virtual store are carried out;
• Increase consumer safety, so that they are not harmed when buying products that are out of market standards;
• Increase the security of the shopkeeper, so that he is not responsible for any occurrences caused by third parties;
• Gather information that can avoid legal battles;
• Gather information that can be used for defense and/or attack in legal disputes, should they occur;
• Make known in which situations the virtual store is responsible for something and in which situations it is not.
In general, Terms of Use agreements cover the following topics:
• The confidentiality of consumer data;
• The functioning of the Customer Service (SAC);
• Delivery policies, exchanges and returns;
• The right of repentance and the resulting procedures;
• At payment methods accepted by the virtual store;
• Product delivery times;
• The types of guarantees;
• Products that can cause health risks;
• The rules for using the virtual store;
• Customer registration;
• The offer of products;
• Promotions;
• Computer applications and viruses;
• Use of cookies (which store user information).
Finally, there is an extensive list of data that you can enter in your Terms of Use in order to avoid legal disputes for your virtual store or even to defend yourself against them if they occur.
In the virtual store, the Terms of Use are usually inserted in the footer of the website in a link that, once clicked, takes the consumer to a page where he can read the entire content of the document.
Since this is a very complex document, it should be prepared very carefully, preferably with the legal advice of a lawyer specialized in this area.
