Business
Retailer: A retailer can be an individual or a business entity. An owner should understand the liability of these options. As an individual, the individual can become individually liable for any disputes that occur. If the owner is an established business entity, the business entity can protect the individual from such liability. Protection from individual liability is one of the main reasons many business entities are established.
Products: A business should know what products the business will sell. The business may sell physical products or digital products. In either case, the business should know how it will obtain the products, including agreements with manufactures, suppliers, and distributors for physical products or developers and creators for digital products. Considerations for each product include, but not limited to, the liability from injury, infringement of intellectual property, and sales of the product.
Territory: A business should know whether they will sell within the United States or Internationally. A business selling internationally may want to set up separate businesses and store fronts for their business as a way to divide liability and simplify cross-border compliance issues. Considerations depending on the territory may include, tax, import and export, privacy regulations, contract issues, intellectual property, and insurance.
Website
Domain: A business can list products on their own domain or a third-party marketplace’s domain. A business can set up their own website by registering for a domain. Issues that often occur when searching for a domain include, but not limited to, domains owned by another person, registering a domain where another person owns the trademark for such domain, and pricing.
Design: A business need to make sure the functionality works and is user friendly. However, there are many considerations to take into account. If a business hires another person to design or develop their website, there should be an agreement in place between the business and the designer or developer. Developer’s should also take into consideration the WSAG 2.1 guidelines to provide accessibility for people with disabilities to comply with the ADA regulations. In terms of content, a business must make sure they have the necessary intellectual property licenses for the content they use or provide protections for their own intellectual property.
Legal material: Websites may need different legal material. Some of the main material that is needed for ecommerce businesses are: 1. Terms of Use, 2. Privacy Policy, 3. Terms of Sale, 4. DMCA Policy, and 5. Warranties.
Mobile App: A business may also want to have their own mobile app separate from their website. A mobile app should have an End User Licensing Agreement (EULA) or a general Terms and Conditions that include a EULA in it.
Store
Operations and Functionality: A business will have a terms of sale that explains the sales operations and functionality. A business will also have internal operations and functionality to keep track of the inventory. A business should make sure they understand and follow the flow of their fulfilment process, especially those set out in the terms of sale. The business should have the processes for inventory, orders, invoicing or shipping notifications, customer service, returns and general sales reports. The store functionality should also be able to limit certain type of sales or provide functionality the representations that the business makes, including, order limits, prohibited sales, promotions, and fulfillment processes.
Payment Processing: A business should have proper payment processing processes including proper sales tax. Most businesses use third-party payment processors including PayPal and Stripe. These third parties take care of most of the payment processing work through certain website hosting plugins.
Miscellaneous
Insurance: A business should always obtain insurance to protect itself from liabilities. Many liabilities that arise include, but not limited to, property damage, bodily injuries, third party crimes, and workers compensation. If an event occurs, the business should review the policy to make sure the event is covered. The insurance then takes over the claim and covers the claim if under the policy.
Advertising and Marketing: A business needs to be cautious in the way they advertise and market their product. A business may become liable for representations that are made about their product or promotions that are promised by the company. In addition, product claims in advertising and marketing must not be misleading or deceptive. Compliance issues typically arise through misleading or deceptive advertising, which is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission.