To sell online in France, a store needs six pages: the legal notice, the terms and conditions of sale, delivery, returns and the right of withdrawal, privacy (with cookie management), and a contact page that also names the consumer mediator. Most of what they contain is required by law before the order, and organising it into clear pages remains the simplest way to provide it. Since 19 June 2026, the returns page must also lead to a feature that lets customers withdraw directly online.
This article gives pointers drawn from the official texts, cited and linked at each step. It is not legal advice: drafting your terms remains the job of a lawyer or legal adviser. What belongs to the website is that these pages exist, can be found and work.
Why do these pages matter as much as a product page?
Because buyers read them at the moment they hesitate. Before paying a store they do not know, they scroll to the bottom of the page to find out who is selling, what delivery costs and how to send an item back. If they cannot find the answer, they do not ask: they leave.
They also matter because the law makes them necessary. Article L221-5 of the French Consumer Code lists the information a seller must give the consumer before the contract is concluded: product characteristics, price, delivery time, identity, legal guarantees, mediator, withdrawal conditions. This information has to exist somewhere on the site, and a dedicated page for each topic is where customers look for it.
The 6 pages at a glance
- The legal notice: who publishes the site, how to reach them, who hosts it.
- The terms and conditions of sale: the rules of the contract, from order to payment and guarantees.
- Delivery: areas, methods, lead times and costs, stated before the order.
- Returns and the right of withdrawal: the deadline, the steps, return costs and the online withdrawal feature.
- Privacy and cookies: what you do with your customers' data, and their choice about trackers.
- Contact: a real way to reach you, and the details of the consumer mediator.
What should the legal notice contain?
The legal notice says who is behind the site. Article 1-1 of the French law on confidence in the digital economy requires a professional publisher to make available to the public, for a company, its name or corporate name, its registered office, a telephone number and, if it is registered, its registration number and share capital. For a sole trader, it is their surname, first names, home address, telephone number and registration number where applicable.
The same article adds the name of the publication director, as well as the name, corporate name, address and telephone number of the site's host. This information is not only for stores: it applies to every professional website, showcase sites included.
What goes into the terms and conditions of sale?
The terms and conditions of sale are the contract customers accept when they order. They restate the pre-contract information of Article L221-5 and set the rules: how ordering works, when payment is taken, what happens if delivery is late or a product is faulty.
They belong in two places: a page reachable from anywhere on the site, and a reminder at the point of ordering, where the customer accepts them. Terms you can only find after paying reassure no one.
What Article L221-5 requires you to state before the order
- The main characteristics of the product or service.
- The price, presented according to the rules of the Consumer Code.
- The delivery date or lead time.
- The seller's identity and contact details, and the means of settling a dispute.
- The legal guarantees, where they apply.
- The option of turning to a consumer mediator.
- The conditions, deadline and procedure of the right of withdrawal, the model form and, where applicable, the location of the online withdrawal feature.
- Who pays for the return in case of withdrawal, and the absence of a right of withdrawal where it is excluded.
What should the delivery page state?
The delivery page answers the three questions every buyer asks: where do you deliver, how fast, and at what price. The areas served, the methods offered, the lead times and the costs are written in plain words, and they match what the cart shows.
The lead time is not a detail. Under Article L216-1 of the French Consumer Code, when no date or lead time has been stated or agreed, the professional must deliver without undue delay and no later than thirty days after the contract is concluded. Stating a realistic lead time is therefore better than stating none.
Costs, for their part, must appear early. Delivery costs discovered at the last step are one of the frictions that make shoppers abandon a cart, as we explain in our article on the e-commerce checkout funnel.
How should returns and the right of withdrawal be presented?
For a distance purchase, the consumer has fourteen days to withdraw, without giving a reason, under Article L221-18 of the French Consumer Code. For goods, this period runs from receipt. The returns page therefore states clearly the deadline, the steps, the return address, who pays for the return and how quickly the customer is refunded.
Since 19 June 2026, a new rule applies. For a distance contract concluded through an online interface, Article L221-21 requires the professional to provide, free of charge, a feature for exercising this right online. Article D221-5 sets its form: it is labelled with the words « renoncer au contrat ici » (withdraw from the contract here) or an equivalent unambiguous wording, it is visible and directly accessible, and it remains available throughout the withdrawal period.
What the online withdrawal feature must offer
- Visible, direct access, labelled « renoncer au contrat ici » or an equivalent unambiguous wording.
- A form where the customer enters or confirms their surname and first name, the contract concerned and the electronic means for receiving the acknowledgement.
- A confirmation step labelled « confirmer la rétractation » (confirm withdrawal) or an equivalent wording.
- An acknowledgement on a durable medium, repeating the content of the declaration and the date and time it was sent.
What about personal data and cookies?
A store necessarily collects data: name, address, email, order history. The CNIL, the French data protection authority, points out that people must be told the identity of the controller, the purposes, the legal basis, the recipients, the retention period, their rights and their right to lodge a complaint with the CNIL. This information must be concise, understandable and easy to find: that is the job of the privacy page.
Cookies follow a rule that is simple to state: according to the CNIL, refusing trackers must be as easy as accepting them, for example with a « reject all » button placed at the same level and with the same look as « accept all ». Some trackers, such as strictly limited audience measurement, can be exempt from consent under conditions: the cookie page says which ones you use and lets visitors change their mind at any time.
Why a real contact page, with the mediator?
The contact page is the simplest and the most reassuring: a customer who knows they can reach someone buys with more peace of mind. It provides at least an email address or a form, and the telephone number already given in the legal notice.
It is also a good place for the consumer mediator. Article R616-1 of the French Consumer Code requires the professional to display the details of the mediator or mediators it falls under, visibly and legibly on its website, as well as in its terms and conditions of sale and on its order forms, together with the address of the mediator's website.
Pages that follow the law, and therefore the site
These six pages are not written once and for all. The online withdrawal feature of June 2026 is the example: a store that complied the day before had to add a button, a form, a confirmation and an acknowledgement. The legal text is your adviser's job; fitting it cleanly into the journey, in the right place and without breaking checkout, is the website's job.
That is why every custom e-commerce website by Horyond Agency includes a support subscription: hosting, client dashboard, support, security and improvements. A new obligation becomes an improvement to the site, not a project to restart from scratch. Price guides are on the pricing page, and the simplest way to review your store is a free discovery call by video.
Frequently asked questions
Does a small store really need all these pages?
Yes. The texts cited here apply to every professional selling at a distance to consumers, with no size threshold. A small store can have short pages, but it must give the same information: identity, terms of sale, delivery, withdrawal, personal data and mediator.
Does the fourteen-day right of withdrawal apply to every product?
No. The law provides exceptions, and Article L221-5 of the French Consumer Code then requires you to tell the customer that the right of withdrawal does not apply, or the circumstances in which they lose it. This information belongs on the product page concerned and on the returns page.
Is the « renoncer au contrat ici » button mandatory?
Yes for distance contracts concluded through an online interface, since 19 June 2026 (Articles L221-21 and D221-5 of the French Consumer Code). Contracts already running on that date remain governed by the previous rules.
Is a cookie banner always required?
You need one as soon as the site sets trackers that require consent, such as those used for targeted advertising. In that case, the CNIL asks that refusing be as easy as accepting. A site that only uses exempt trackers, such as strictly limited audience measurement, can do without one, but it must still describe them on its cookie page.
Sources
- Law on confidence in the digital economy, Article 1-1 (Légifrance) (accessed October 27, 2026)
- French Consumer Code, Article L221-5 (Légifrance) (accessed October 27, 2026)
- French Consumer Code, Article L216-1 (Légifrance) (accessed October 27, 2026)
- French Consumer Code, Article L221-18 (Légifrance) (accessed October 27, 2026)
- French Consumer Code, Article L221-21 (Légifrance) (accessed October 27, 2026)
- French Consumer Code, Article D221-5 (Légifrance) (accessed October 27, 2026)
- French Consumer Code, Article R616-1 (Légifrance) (accessed October 27, 2026)
- CNIL: informing individuals and transparency (accessed October 27, 2026)
- CNIL: questions and answers on cookies and other trackers (accessed October 27, 2026)