A little history and legal background!
When it comes to delivery, e-tailers are subject to numerous rules, established in particular to protect consumers, promote transparency of pricing conditions and legibility of information. In France, these legal obligations have been incorporated into two main laws: the Hamon and Châtel Acts. These are based on Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 20, 1997, and on European law transposed into the French Consumer Code in August 2001. Here’s how to decipher the Hamon and Châtel laws – sometimes complex, but impossible to ignore!
Coming into force in 2014, the Hamon Law aims to establish greater transparency, legibility and understanding for consumers. It governs many aspects of online commerce.
Until the Hamon law came into force, online stores were only required to indicate the deadline by which they would deliver the goods purchased, when contract performance was not immediate. At the time, the law did not set a maximum delivery time. Since then, things have changed: e-tailers must be able to issue a promise of delivery, i.e. to specify to customers the date or time by which they undertake to deliver the good or perform the service ordered. Where no indication is given, the delivery period may not exceed 30 days. Furthermore, the Hamon law requires the seller to provide this information before the consumer is bound, i.e. before final confirmation of the order, and therefore before online payment.
Our advice:
It’s important to be clear from the outset, and to indicate the exact amount of delivery costs in the order tunnel, either at the shopping cart stage or after the future buyer has entered their contact details. Indicating the cost of delivery in the final stages leads to a fairly high rate of shopping cart abandonment.
An example:
An e-commerce site for shoes can’t just say “dispatched within 24 hours”. It must provide an estimate of the delivery date when the customer visits the shopping cart. It’s important to distinguish between delivery and shipping dates.
In addition, prior to the Hamon law, some companies offered an average delivery time, but concealed the time required to prepare the parcel. The law now requires customers to specify a “delivery deadline”, which corresponds to the estimated date of first presentation for home deliveries, or of availability at a collection point for out-of-home deliveries.
Delivery costs
The Hamon law requires that the amount of delivery charges, included in the total to be paid (excluding free delivery), be mentioned before the consumer validates his order and accesses the payment page. At the very least, it must be mentioned on the order summary page.
Delivery restrictions
Some e-commerce sites are unable, or unwilling, to deliver to certain geographical areas; this is known as a “delivery restriction”. The most common is the indication: delivery in metropolitan France only. The Hamon law requires e-tailers to stipulate this information at the start of the transaction.
Prior to this law, it was only possible to specify delivery exclusively to mainland France at the very last stage of the order process, even though the consumer had already entered all their personal details. As a result, many users cancelled their orders, thereby damaging the brand’s image.
Since the introduction of the Hamon law, any geographical, delivery method or product-related delivery restrictions must be stipulated at the latest at the start of the order process. For a better customer experience, it’s best to specify this information right from the product sheet. It is also possible to add a tool for simulating the amount of delivery charges, right from the shopping cart stage.
Who is responsible for transportation?
Still under the Hamon law, responsibility for parcel transport lies with the e-commerce site. The merchant is fully responsible for the performance of the contract concluded with the consumer, even in cases where certain obligations are performed by a mandated service provider, in this case, delivery. This responsibility cannot therefore be imputed to the carrier.
Example:
A cyber-buyer orders a vase from an e-commerce site. He is charged 5 euros for delivery by Colissimo, within 2 days. He is told that it will be delivered between June 13th (a Friday) and June 16th (a Monday). On June 14th, Colissimo delivered the parcel. But the vase arrives broken. Who should the buyer turn to for a refund or a new vase?
Answer: the e-commerce site must send the customer a new vase or refund the purchase price, depending on the customer’s wishes. The merchant may, however, subsequently turn against the carrier and claim compensation.
Furthermore, in the event of a delivery delay of more than 7 days, a buyer may cancel his order by simple letter (registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt is no longer obligatory) or by e-mail. The e-commerce site is then obliged to reimburse the customer within 14 days.
Beyond that, surcharges apply:
Who pays for returns?
The Hamon law only partially addresses this issue. In the event of retraction, return costs can be charged to the consumer or paid by the online store. However, the consumer must be informed of this when the order is placed. If this is not the case, the return costs will be charged to the merchant.
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Withdrawal: what about outbound delivery charges?
Example:
A customer pays 50 euros for a vase, plus 15 euros for delivery. In the end, he didn’t like the vase. He exercises his right of withdrawal and returns the product. The 50 euros for the vase will be reimbursed, but what about the 15 euros for the outward delivery?
The Châtel law answers this question. Adopted in 2008, it clearly states that the online sales professional must reimburse all sums paid by the consumer. This includes the cost of outbound delivery.
An obligation to inform
In the interests of transparency and readability, the law also requires e-commerce sites to provide all information about their identity, in a clear and comprehensible manner. This includes :
- name or company name ;
- registered office address and e-mail address;
- the telephone numbers by which buyers can contact you;
- RCS number ;
- share capital ;
- the terms of payment accepted, delivery or performance;
the existence or absence of a right of withdrawal and the terms…
It’s important to be vigilant about site spoofing. With all this essential information available, it’s easy for ill-intentioned people to create a site similar to yours, with the aim of scamming potential customers.
In addition, the sales contract must be sent by e-mail, at the end of a sales tunnel that allows you to go back easily to make changes, and must not include any pre-ticked boxes adding additional products (insurance, etc.).
The aim of these laws is twofold: to protect consumers and to provide a framework for e-commerce professionals. Failure to comply can result in fines – for example, a maximum of €15,000 for a legal entity in the event of failure to comply with pre-contractual information obligations.
Note that in the event of a dispute with a consumer, it is up to the professional to prove that he has fulfilled his obligations.