Taking Your Business Online | 5 Tips When Selling Online
The number of businesses selling online is increasing, and this is no surprise. The digital age in which we live, along with the level of social and economic uncertainty has seen the rise of the necessity of businesses to ‘pivot’ to remain viable (and in many cases, thrive), and to keep up with consumer demands.
When we are talking about selling online, there is more to consider than Shopify sites and carts – though these are important too!
In terms of legal obligations businesses selling online need to be sure they are meeting their obligations under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). The ACL governs businesses that engage with and sell to consumers, regardless of whether that selling is face to face or online.
If you have or are thinking about moving to online selling in your business, then these 5 Legal Tips for Selling Online are for you:
Website Terms & Conditions
These need to be updated to reflect online selling practices. Importantly this needs to extend to intellectual property and disclaimers (making it clear what your business will and won’t be liable for). For most businesses, the Website Terms & Conditions will now include Terms & Conditions of Sale (see below!).
2. Terms & Conditions of Sale
These specific terms need to be available on the website, and they relate specifically to what you are selling. They must incorporate consumer guarantees as prescribed by the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).
If your business is selling goods, then the guarantees that need to be included are:
The goods must be of merchantable quality;
They need to be fit for the purpose or job that they are meant to provide;
They must match the description or sample given;
They need to be free from defects and faults; and
They must be clear of finance or encumbrances not disclosed to the consumer.
If your business is selling services, then the services must be guaranteed to be carried out with due skill and care.
3. Payment Options & Refund Policy
You need to set out the payment options available to consumers. These should be clearly outlined on the website and details of the merchant used or the gateway provided (for example, Stripe or PayPal), need to be disclosed - and be sure to disclose any associated user fees or charges that the consumer may need to pay!
4. Privacy Policy
As a business owner, you have an obligation to protect personal data collected from consumers/your customers or clients. Best practice is to explain in your business’ Privacy Policy how personal data is being protected, and the limited circumstances that this data will be disclosed - and these limited circumstances are legal in nature and are set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Hopefully, the chances that you will be required to disclose personal data is low, however, you still need to set this out for consumers to see if they want to.
5. Marketing
It can be exciting working with your team about the brilliance of your offerings when taking this online – whether these are goods that you love so much or services that you are really proud of. That’s all great, and hopefully, this side of your business takes off! Just keep in mind when marketing your goods or services on your website that you must take care to ensure all descriptions and claims are true and accurate. There is a law prohibiting misleading claims when selling to consumers, and careful attention needs to be paid to marketing campaigns. As the business owner, the buck stops with you, so be sure you are all over this.
Taking your business’ offering online can be exciting, empowering, nerve-wracking and overwhelming all at the same time! But it doesn’t have to be. Use these 5 tips wisely, and prioritise all of them. If you do, you can achieve peace of mind knowing you have done all the legal things you need to, and you can get on with launching your new online offering.
If you have questions about any of the above – or any other aspect of building your business and launching online – please reach out. We would love to help.
You might like to read more of our tips in our Legal Advice For Small Business - Ultimate Guide and our Australian Law 101 - Guide for Small Business.