Terms and Conditions
What is E-Commerce?
E-Commerce refers to electronic commerce, meaning the ability to purchase products and services directly from a website. You will need to provide personal information and identify yourself each time you wish to place an order. The ordered products will be delivered directly to your home.
How to Buy Online?
You can purchase products conveniently from your home. The steps to make a purchase are as follows:
- Register: Provide all necessary details to identify yourself and allow us to process the order. Registration is done only once.
- Login: Access the website and identify yourself.
- Purchase: Select the items you want to order from the product page and add them to your shopping cart.
- Order: Confirm the order by selecting the payment and shipping methods.
How to Choose a Product
At the core of a virtual store is a product database that creates a catalog organized into categories, with images and necessary information for a correct understanding of the products and the possibility of viewing detailed descriptions of individual products.
The user wishing to buy will simply select the products they want to purchase and add them to a “virtual cart” (just like in a supermarket).
Every purchase made online is considered a transaction that requires a purchase contract. This contract consists of two parts:
- The purchase proposal, i.e., the order form presented at the time of purchase.
- Acceptance and confirmation letters to be sent after receiving the order form.
The purchase contract is considered legally concluded when the party making the proposal is informed of the acceptance by the other party (usually done via email).
How to Use the Cart
In a true virtual store, you have an easy-to-use shopping cart where you can add products you wish to buy with all the necessary details (description, quantity, prices, totals, product pages, couriers, discounts, etc.).
The virtual cart offers many services that a regular shopping cart can’t: it shows a detailed breakdown of what has been added, including the total cost, and allows you to add or remove products and get product information with just a click.
After filling the cart, the user will send and confirm the order (through a submission form), optionally selecting shipping methods (e.g., courier or mail) and payment methods.
How to Pay
The payment options available to the consumer vary from site to site, but generally, they can be divided into two types:
- Traditional or Offline Payments
- Online Payments
Traditional Payments
- Cash on Delivery: The buyer pays the delivery person the due amount, plus collection fees. Essentially, the buyer sees the goods before paying.
- Bank Transfer: Once the transaction is completed, the seller provides the bank details for the buyer to make a transfer for the amount of the goods. Once the transfer is received (or the receipt is sent by the consumer), the seller ships the goods. The issue with this method is the processing time for the bank transfer. However, with modern web banking techniques, the consumer can make the transfer online, then immediately send the electronic receipt to the seller.
- Cash: This is not a practical payment method in e-commerce (unless you’re willing to risk mailing cash!).
Data Collection
Personal Data
Your website is an open window to the world, a virtual store where your customers can browse, inquire, compare, and purchase. It is where transactions take place, and every transaction, like every business activity, is based on a relationship. Relationships are the gateway to e-commerce.
When your store is online, the relationship with the customer should be at the center of all marketing actions because customer attention and satisfaction are prerequisites for creating a business relationship.
Thanks to direct customer interaction, marketing in e-commerce achieves its dream: the internet makes it possible to sell to the consumer as an individual and allows the collection of useful data on personal buying habits, preferences, and tastes. This data can then be used for targeted offers, better directing promotions, product appearance, and features to achieve the greatest impact on the consumer, all while keeping the cost relatively affordable.
The customer (whether current or potential) contacting you online needs to establish a relationship of trust more than ever, and they are predisposed to dialogue. Therefore, it’s important to transform what may seem like a cold relationship with software into a welcoming service that makes the customer feel important and supported, so they don’t feel alone.
Privacy Protection
In the delicate relationship between the internet, network technologies, and privacy protection regulations, the law of December 31, 1996, No. 675 intervenes.
Specifically, the issue arises concerning the processing and protection of personal data. This law ensures that all operations related to the collection, registration, organization, modification, selection, and use of information that allows the identification of a person are conducted in compliance with rights, fundamental freedoms, and dignity, particularly concerning privacy and personal identity. It also guarantees rights for legal entities and any other institutions or associations.
For example, consider personal information such as addresses, phone numbers, and emails. The matter is even more sensitive when dealing with “sensitive data,” which could reveal racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, political opinions, or health status.
The importance of such data becomes evident since, by combining them, it is possible to create a very detailed profile of each individual and their preferences.
Therefore, a detailed regulation has been set, concerning the obligations of anyone conducting online activities involving personal data processing, regarding the collection methods to ensure security. However, before analyzing this, it’s essential to clarify what the law means by terms such as “processing,” “personal data,” “data controller,” “data processor,” “data subject,” “communication,” “dissemination,” “anonymous data,” “data bank,” “blocking,” and “Supervisor.”
