In short. Before ordering, a shop must explain the contract steps, error correction tools, contract filing and access, and languages offered under Article 10.
Definition: Under Article 10 of the EU E-Commerce Directive, an online shop must explain the technical steps for concluding the contract and the means of identifying and correcting input errors before the customer places an order. The required information also covers contract filing and access, and the languages offered for concluding the contract.
Key facts
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Article 10(1) of the E-Commerce Directive requires ordering information to be clear, comprehensible and unambiguous before the order is placed, including whether the concluded contract is filed and accessible.
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Article 8(3) of the Consumer Rights Directive requires trading websites to disclose delivery restrictions and accepted payment methods by the beginning of ordering at the latest.
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Article 10(3) of the original directive requires supplied contract terms and general conditions to be available in a form the customer can store and reproduce.
What information belongs in the ordering explanation?
As of 17 October 2026, Article 10(1) of the E-Commerce Directive sets out the ordering information that Member States must require. For a shop, this means explaining the technical steps the customer follows to conclude the contract, identifying the available means of finding and correcting input errors, and stating the languages offered for concluding the contract.
The filing disclosure has two parts: whether the provider files the concluded contract, and whether that contract is accessible. Article 10(1)(b) requires information about those arrangements; it does not impose a general obligation to provide a customer account containing archived contracts.
Article 10(2) also requires the provider to identify relevant codes of conduct to which it subscribes and explain how they can be consulted electronically. Under Article 10(3), the contract terms and general conditions supplied to the customer must allow storage and reproduction.
Must the checkout actually allow errors to be corrected?
Article 10(1)(c) of the E-Commerce Directive requires information about correction tools before the order is placed. Article 11(2) additionally requires the provider to make appropriate, effective and accessible technical means available for identifying and correcting input errors before ordering.
A checkout review therefore covers both the explanation of the correction mechanism and whether the mechanism is available before submission. The legal criteria for that mechanism are appropriateness, effectiveness and accessibility. Article 11(1) separately requires electronic acknowledgment of receipt of the order without undue delay, subject to its stated exceptions.
How do the consumer checkout rules fit alongside Article 10?
Article 6(8) of the Consumer Rights Directive makes its information duties additional to those in the E-Commerce Directive. Where their rules on information content or presentation conflict, the Consumer Rights Directive prevails.
For an electronic distance contract involving payment, Article 8(2) requires the consumer to acknowledge explicitly that ordering entails an obligation to pay. A button used to place that order must carry an easily legible, unambiguous payment formulation. Article 8(3) places the delivery restriction and accepted payment method disclosures at the beginning of the ordering process at the latest.
Related terms
- When must an online shop acknowledge receipt of an order?
- What must an online shop's payment button communicate?
FAQ
Can business customers agree to different information arrangements?
Yes. Article 10(1) and (2) allow parties who are not consumers to agree otherwise about the specified information and code of conduct disclosures. Article 10(3), on storing and reproducing supplied terms, contains no equivalent agreement exception.
Does the rule cover contracts concluded entirely by email?
Article 10(4) exempts contracts concluded exclusively by exchange of electronic mail or equivalent individual communications from paragraphs 1 and 2. That exception leaves paragraph 3, concerning storage and reproduction of supplied terms, in place.
Sources
- EUR-Lex, "E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC", consolidated 17 February 2024
- EUR-Lex, "E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC", 8 June 2000
- EUR-Lex, "Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU", consolidated 27 September 2026
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