E-Commerce Law Basics

E-Commerce Law Basics is an eight-hour, self-paced introduction to the legal requirements that apply to online shops in Germany. It explains the information, processes and everyday decisions that shape a legally informed shop operation, without providing legal advice for an individual case.

E-Commerce Law Basics at a glance

• Format: Self-paced, 4 modules
• Level: Basics
• Participants: unlimited
• Language: English
• Certificate: AEI certificate of attendance
• Investment: free of charge

What you take away

You receive a structured overview of the main legal duties involved in running an online shop for customers in Germany. The course follows practical situations: a customer wants to know who operates the shop, a product page shows a reduced price, an order is cancelled, delivery takes longer than expected, or a newsletter and cookie banner process personal data. These situations are used to show which information must be provided, where it should appear and which internal checks can reduce avoidable mistakes.

You also learn how the different areas fit together. An online shop is not compliant merely because it has an imprint or a privacy notice. Product descriptions, prices, advertising labels, reviews, withdrawal information, delivery statements and data processes must work together across the shop, checkout, email communication and external platforms. The course gives you a reliable foundation for recognising relevant questions and deciding when a specific issue needs individual legal review.

Your learning objectives

• You can identify the core provider information and mandatory shop details that should be available to customers.
• You can explain how terms, product information and the ordering process contribute to a valid conclusion of contract.
• You can check common price, withdrawal, delivery and customs information for obvious gaps or contradictions.
• You can distinguish advertising content from editorial or customer content and identify situations that require clear labelling.
• You can recognise important requirements for discounts, strikethrough prices, reviews and influencer recommendations.
• You can describe basic rules for collecting data, using cookies and arranging data processing with service providers.

The levers at a glance

Transparent shop identity. Customers need to understand who operates a shop and how that operator can be contacted. The course looks at provider identification, the imprint and the placement of required information. A practical example is a shop that displays a company name in its footer but uses a different legal entity in the order confirmation. The lesson shows why such differences should be checked rather than treated as a purely design-related detail.

Understandable ordering. A customer should be able to see what is being ordered, at what price and under which terms before submitting an order. We examine how product pages, the basket, the checkout button, terms and the confirmation process relate to one another. This includes situations such as optional products added during checkout, unclear contract wording or a confirmation email that does not match the information shown before the order.

Accurate commercial information. Price statements, delivery promises and withdrawal information influence a purchasing decision and must not create a misleading impression. The course uses examples such as a product advertised with a net price to consumers, delivery described as immediate even though stock is unavailable, or shipping costs revealed only after several checkout steps. You learn where to look for inconsistencies and how to organise the information so that customers can make an informed choice.

Visible advertising signals. Commercial content can appear in many forms, including a discount banner, a product review, a social media recommendation or content created with an influencer. The relevant question is not only who published the content, but also whether its commercial purpose is recognisable. We discuss clear advertising labels, the presentation of reduced prices and the difference between an authentic customer opinion and paid or incentivised content.

Controlled data use. Everyday shop operations rely on data: a customer address is needed for delivery, a payment provider receives order information, and analytics or marketing tools may place cookies or process visitor activity. The course separates necessary processing from optional uses and introduces the role of consent and data processing agreements. It also encourages a simple inventory of tools, data categories, purposes and service providers so that privacy tasks are connected to actual shop operations.

Who is this course for?

This course is intended for people who work with an online shop or support its operation. It is suitable for founders, shop managers, e-commerce staff, product and content teams, marketing employees, customer service staff and technical colleagues who need a common basis for legal questions. It is also useful for people preparing to launch a shop and for those who coordinate external agencies, payment providers, logistics partners or software tools.

It is not for people seeking legal advice for a particular dispute, a detailed assessment of their own terms, a formal review of a shop or a solution to a specific warning or claim. It does not replace advice from a qualified legal professional. The course is also not designed as specialist training for lawyers or as a complete treatment of every rule that may apply to a particular product, business model or sales channel.

Cost and access

The course is free of charge. Sign-up takes place through the shop, and access is provided immediately after registration. You can start when it suits you, pause between lessons and return to the material as needed.

There is no fixed date, live appointment or required timetable. The planned scope is eight hours across four modules, but you decide how to distribute that time. This makes it possible to work through the legal basics in one concentrated period or to study alongside the daily operation of a shop and use concrete questions from your own work as examples.

After the course

A sensible next step is to compare the course topics with the actual customer journey in your shop. Review the provider information, product pages, basket, checkout, order confirmation, delivery messages, return process, advertising material and data tools in sequence. Make a list of unclear or inconsistent points, assign internal responsibility for checking them and record which questions require individual legal advice.

You can also use the module structure as a recurring internal check. Changes to payment methods, shipping regions, marketing tools, product categories or shop software may affect several legal areas at once. Revisiting the relevant lesson when such a change is planned helps the team ask better questions before new content or functionality goes live.

Programme: 4 modules

• Obligations in a shop: Imprint and provider identification; Terms and conclusion of contract; What else is mandatory
• Prices, withdrawal, shipping: Price information without trouble; The right of withdrawal; Shipping, delivery time, customs
• Advertising and labelling: What advertising must disclose; Discounts and strikethrough prices; Reviews and influencers
• Data in daily work: Which data may be collected; Cookies and consent; Data processing agreements

Our approach

We work from concrete shop processes rather than isolated legal terms. Each topic connects a rule to a recognisable situation, such as publishing a product page, accepting an order, sending a parcel, displaying a discount, placing a cookie or instructing a service provider to handle customer data. The course distinguishes general orientation from case-specific legal assessment, uses clear explanations and encourages participants to translate what they learn into practical checks for their own responsibilities.