The European Commission said on Friday that Ottawa Canada based e-commerce business Shopify has committed to put in place improvements aimed at making online shopping safer for customers, according to a statement.
Shopify committed to change the design of its templates to include fields for company information and contact details, to provide clear guidance to traders on relevant EU consumer law and to provide company details about any EU trader when requested by any national consumer authority.
The company also agreed to take down web shops in breach of EU consumer law, as well as to provide the relevant company details.
“Almost 75% of internet users in the EU are shopping online. This is a huge market for scammers and rogue traders to exploit, and they will continue to do so unless we act.”
EU Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders
The changes agreed to include a commitment to create a “fast and effective” ‘notice and action’ procedure for national consumer authorities to report problems they spot; and an agreement to change its templates to encourage traders to be more transparent with consumers.
Per the EU, the complaints — which it said peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic — mainly related to web stores hosted by the B2B e-commerce platform which were found to have engaged in illegal practices, such as making fake offers and fake scarcity claims; supplying counterfeit goods; or not providing their contact details.
It said Shopify has agreed to take down shops when concerns are raised with it by national consumer protection authorities in the EU — and to provide “relevant company details” to the regulators.
“We welcome Shopify’s commitment to ensure that traders operating on its platform are aware of their responsibilities under EU law, and are taken down if they break the rules,” he said.
