If you sell products or services on the internet, it’s highly recommended that you provide your customers with a Terms and Conditions Agreement (T&C). While the law doesn’t require any online store to have a terms and conditions document in place, we’ll show you why having one is so important, and why no online store should be without this agreement. We’ll also show you how to create one of your own.

What is a Terms and Conditions Agreement for your online store?

A Terms and Conditions agreement is a contract that spells out exactly what the legal relationship is between the store and the consumer. The agreement should be easy to understand and readily accessible.

Without Terms and Conditions, it’s unclear what the consumer can expect from you, and it’s more difficult for you to take action if a customer abuses your service.

Need a Terms and Conditions Generator for your Business?

Try Shopify Terms and Conditions Generator tool. A policy generator is a free tool Shopify offers to businesses. That means there is no cost to use it. We currently offer the following policy generators:

• Privacy policy
• Refund policy
• Terms and conditions

Why Every eCommerce Store Needs Terms and Conditions?

You might still be wondering why a Terms and Conditions agreement is such a big deal. After all, when purchasing goods from a regular store, you don’t sign any formalities with the cashier or the manager. 

Online stores, however, are different…

Although the Terms and Conditions agreement protects consumers, they really protect you, the eCommerce store owner. The Terms and Conditions reaffirm that you may or may not be held responsible for any of the terms listed under the conditions stated.

Below mentions a few of the terms and conditions used on a daily basis by eCommerce store owners:

• You can outline your own return and refund policies. For example, you can decide whether to accept or reject returning items.
• You can clarify that consumers are responsible for any customs or additional VAT fees they might encounter before receiving the goods.
• It’s possible to limit your liability so that you aren’t responsible for inaccuracies such as product misdescriptions or shipping delays.
• You can limit any financial compensation to pay someone.
• You can protect your intellectual property rights.
• You can reserve the right to delete accounts that violate your conditions, without warning and without explanation.
• You can set out the dispute process if any legal issues do arise.

It’s important that you remember, that if you’re selling eCommerce goods or providing services of any kind, there are many factors at play that are well beyond your control. The terms and conditions of your business are an essential part of any business plan and should always be adhered to so that one can avoid losing customers in an already competitive industry.

What to include in the Terms and Conditions for online stores?

Terms and Conditions are fundamental to mounting an adequate and proper defense, should the need arise. To protect your online store in a preventative way, a good Terms and Conditions document should contain the following clauses:

• Identification of the business (seller contact details)
• Description of the service that your site/app provides
• Information on risk allocation, liability, and disclaimers
• Warranty/Guarantee information (where applicable)
• The existence of a withdrawal right (if applicable)
• Terms of delivery of product/service
• Conditions of use/purchase (e.g. age requirements, location-based restrictions)
• Refund policy/exchange/termination of service and related info
• Info related to methods of payment

Expert’s Advice: It’s always safe to include a lawyer and have your Terms and Conditions Agreement checked up before putting it in print.

Where to Display Terms & Conditions

A proper Terms and Conditions document won’t do your business any good if no one sees it. The best idea is to add it to a link to your site’s footer so that it’s always visible and accessible.

In addition to the website’s footer, other advantageous locations to place Terms and Conditions links are signup and checkout pages.

Why use Terms and Conditions Pro+

The Terms and Conditions Pro+ App has been built by us (MS Webdesigner) for the Shopify Platform. This is a default template that can be customized to your liking and requirements.

• Our Terms & Conditions Pro+ can be product-specific shown on the Product Page or as a Popup.
• Our Terms & Conditions Pro+ can be put up at the Cart too.
• The Terms &Conditions Pro+ App is dynamic and can be used in different methods to show up only when required and otherwise not, hence keeping a smooth checkout process.
• Fully Customizable
• Add multiple T&C Pages
• Show different Terms & Condition checkbox for different Collections/Products.
• Works with all checkout buttons – Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Amazon. Pay, Shop Pay. 
• Know who agreed to the T&C with the date & time.
• You have the option to utilize a 7-day free trial before purchase.
• Complete freedom on where to show the checkbox.

You can also watch a video of our Terms and Conditions Pro+ App here for a better understanding.

Here are some screenshots from our Shopify Terms and Conditions App

The Agreement Shopify Terms and Conditions Popup

Product Specific Terms and Conditions Checkbox

Mobile-Friendly Terms and Conditions Checkbox

Inline Warnings Terms and Conditions Checkbox

Proof of Acceptance Terms and Conditions Checkbox

Easy Customizations Terms and Conditions Checkbox

Customer Support of Terms and Conditions Checkbox

How we have helped some of our customers:

A terms and conditions document will help to protect you and your business from legal action in the event that something goes wrong. Having a terms and conditions document in place will help your customers to understand the shop policies, and will also help to prevent any unforeseen problems before they arise. If you are interested in having a Terms and Conditions document in place on your own store, it’s best to have a lawyer or legal professional draw one up for you. 

If you’re considering using our products or need any assistance, please feel free to write to us at hi@mswebdesigner.com. We are Shopify Experts. As Shopify experts and eCommerce consultants, we have helped more than 1500+ International Brands including Fortune 500 Companies to set up and scale up their online businesses.