Key takeaways
- The EU Consumer Rights Directive lets Member States set language requirements for contractual information so that consumers easily understand it.
- In the EU, an order button must be labelled 'order with obligation to pay' or an unambiguous equivalent, or the consumer is not bound.
- EU consumers have 14 days to withdraw from most distance contracts, and from 19 June 2026 EU traders must offer an online withdrawal function.
- In the UK, the cancellation period for goods generally ends 14 days after the goods are received.
- Legal pages should be adapted to local law first and then translated, not translated from UK terms and published as they are.
This guide is for online retailers and their legal and e-commerce teams preparing to sell to consumers in other countries. It covers the pages where wording has legal effect (checkout, terms of sale, returns and cancellation, delivery, privacy and order emails) and the rules that shape them in the EU and the UK.
It is not legal advice. The aim is to help you plan the translation work and to ask the right questions of your lawyers and your translation provider.
Which e-commerce pages have legal weight when you sell abroad?
The pages with legal weight are those that inform the consumer before the contract, form the contract, or explain the consumer's rights afterwards. Errors in these pages can make terms unenforceable or extend a customer's cancellation rights.
| Page or element | Why it matters legally | Translation approach |
|---|---|---|
| Checkout steps and order button | Forms the contract; EU button wording rules apply | Exact, tested in the live checkout |
| Terms and conditions of sale | Contract terms, governing law, liability | Adapted to local law, then legal translation |
| Returns, cancellation and withdrawal information | Statutory rights and deadlines | Legal translation using local statutory terms |
| Delivery, pricing and tax information | Required pre-contract information | Accurate translation, localised formats |
| Privacy and cookie notices | Data protection transparency duties | Legal translation in clear, plain language |
| Order and dispatch emails | Confirm the contract on a durable medium | Translation consistent with the terms |
Product pages carry their own mandatory information, such as safety warnings and fibre composition, which is covered in our guide to product description translation for online shops.
What do EU rules say about language and pre-contract information?
EU rules require traders to give consumers specific information before a distance contract, and allow each Member State to set language requirements for it. Article 6(1) of the Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU says that the trader "shall provide the consumer with the following information in a clear and comprehensible manner", including the trader's identity, the total price, delivery arrangements and the right of withdrawal.
On language, Article 6(7) is explicit:
"Member States may maintain or introduce in their national law language requirements regarding the contractual information, so as to ensure that such information is easily understood by the consumer." (Directive 2011/83/EU, Article 6(7))
This means language obligations are set country by country. Your lawyers should confirm, for each target market, which language the pre-contract information and terms must be in.
How must the order button and withdrawal function be worded?
In the EU, the button that places an order must make the obligation to pay unmistakable, and a separate withdrawal function is now required. Both must be translated exactly, not creatively.
The order button
Article 8(2) of the Consumer Rights Directive requires the button to be labelled "in an easily legible manner only with the words 'order with obligation to pay' or a corresponding unambiguous formulation". It adds: "If the trader has not complied with this subparagraph, the consumer shall not be bound by the contract or order." A creative "Let's go!" or a literal translation of "Continue" is therefore a legal risk, not a style choice.
The withdrawal function
Directive (EU) 2023/2673 inserted a new Article 11a requiring traders to let consumers withdraw using a withdrawal function. It must be "labelled with the words 'withdraw from contract here'" or an unambiguous equivalent, and the confirmation step must be labelled "confirm withdrawal" or equivalent. Member States must apply these measures from 19 June 2026.
What cancellation and returns rules apply in the EU and the UK?
Consumers buying at a distance generally have 14 days to cancel in both the EU and the UK, but the rules come from different laws and should be described accordingly. Translated returns pages must state the deadlines correctly for each market.
Selling to EU consumers
Article 9(1) of the Consumer Rights Directive provides that, save for listed exceptions, "the consumer shall have a period of 14 days to withdraw" from a distance or off-premises contract without giving a reason.
Selling to UK consumers
In the UK, regulation 30 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 sets the cancellation period. For a sales contract, it generally ends "at the end of 14 days after the day on which the goods come into the physical possession of" the consumer. GOV.UK's guidance on online and distance selling adds that if you do not tell customers about this right, they can cancel within 12 months.
Outdated references also need removing. The European Commission discontinued the EU Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform on 20 July 2025, so translated terms that still link to it should be updated in every language.
How do you translate legal e-commerce pages safely?
The safe approach is to adapt the legal content for each jurisdiction first, then translate it, then test it in the live shop. Translating UK terms word for word into German or Italian does not make them compliant with German or Italian law.
- Decide the governing law and markets. Your lawyers confirm which consumer rules apply to each target country.
- Prepare a legally approved source per market. Adjust terms, withdrawal information and model forms to local requirements.
- Brief the translator. Provide the approved source, a glossary of defined terms and any official local wording you must use.
- Use legal translators. Terms such as "withdrawal", "cancellation", "guarantee" and "warranty" have specific statutory equivalents.
- Get local legal review. A lawyer qualified in the target country checks the translated pages.
- Implement and test. Place test orders and returns in each language to check buttons, emails and confirmation screens.
- Keep versions aligned. Record which version of each page is live, and update all languages together when the law or your policy changes.
Our guide to contract translation explains how defined terms and bilingual versions are handled in more depth.
How should privacy and cookie notices be translated?
Privacy notices should be translated accurately into plain language that the target audience understands. Article 12(1) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation requires information to be provided "in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language".
A literal translation of dense English legal prose rarely meets that standard. Ask your translator to keep the legal meaning while using the plain, direct style that a consumer in that country would expect, and have the result checked by your data protection adviser. The UK has its own version of the GDPR, so UK and EU notices may differ in their references.
What are the common mistakes in translating checkout and policy pages?
The most serious mistakes are legal, but many are simple gaps where English text remains in the purchase flow. These are the issues we see most often:
- Translating UK terms that refer to UK law and the UK regulations for an EU audience.
- Using a marketing tone for the order button or withdrawal button.
- Leaving payment-provider screens, error messages and order emails in English.
- Using different words for "return", "refund" and "withdrawal" across pages, which creates ambiguity.
- Updating the English policy and forgetting the translations.
- Keeping links to the discontinued ODR platform.
These pages sit alongside the creative work covered in our guide to transcreation vs translation. For marketplace sellers, Amazon handles the checkout, but listing content still needs work; see translating Amazon listings for European marketplaces.
How TranslationWorks can help with checkout and policy pages
TranslationWorks is a UK-based translation agency that translates terms of sale, returns and cancellation information, privacy notices, checkout text and order emails for online retailers selling abroad. Our e-commerce translation services cover the whole purchase flow, and legal pages are handled by linguists with experience in our legal translation work. We use your approved source texts and glossaries so that wording stays consistent across pages and languages. TranslationWorks is ISO 17100 certified, ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 registered and Cyber Essentials certified. We do not give legal advice, so we recommend local legal review of the final pages. Request a free quote, and tell us which countries you sell to.
