Consumers are now entitled to more information when shopping or entering into a contract online. This is thanks to a new EU directive that brings various changes to online shopping. TECHBOOK introduces them.
From the end of May, online retailers and online marketplaces will have to provide a lot of information that they have previously refused or for which they have disputed their responsibility. These new information obligations relate, for example, to the presentation of offers and their prices. The Lower Saxony consumer center has explained all changes in online shopping – TECHBOOK summarizes.
More information about the seller and responsibilities
Marketplaces and platforms on which consumers conclude contracts with third parties must indicate whether the specific seller is a private person or a company. With private sales, there is no right of withdrawal and, as a rule, no guarantee.
Booking and comparison portals must also state whether they take on certain tasks for the providers they list, such as rental cars. This is important because otherwise it may not be clear who is responsible for problems and questions.
More price transparency
Merchants and marketplaces must make it clear when displaying personalized prices to consumers. In other words, prices that are tailored to a person by an algorithm using personal data or characteristics.
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Important: This new regulation does not apply to so-called dynamic prices, which fluctuate more or less violently over time, but apply to everyone equally. The consumer centers explain dynamic prices in their fictitious online shop “Wasistyourprice.com“.
Explanation of the procedure of comparison portals
Comparison portals must use a list to indicate which providers have been included in the comparison. This is to prevent the false impression that the entire market has been represented in the comparison. One problem remains: consumer advocates complain that consumers need to know other important providers in order to be able to take them into account in their search.
The portals must now also explain how their list of results came about. An extra information area should state which main parameters are taken into account during creation and how much they influence the overall result. This can be the number of views, ratings or the number of sales, but also commissions and fees.
Help with the classification of online reviews
Shops or portals must explain whether they ensure that reviews only come from customers who actually bought or booked the product or service in question. And if they do, they must explain how.
However, the providers are not obliged to introduce measures to combat fake reviews. Stricter rules are desirable because reviews are an important source of information for many people when shopping online. These are often manipulated or forged.
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Attention: Contracts for financial services such as loans, insurance and pensions for individuals are excluded from the new information requirements for online trading.