Push the Button! - Is Your E-commerce Payment Button Crystal-Clear?

Many e-commerce sites use payment buttons such as "pay now", "confirm order," or "checkout" as a way of the customer confirming they wish to place their order. As customers have become accustomed to this practice, the essential nature of such buttons in digitally forming the contract between the customer and the trader should not be underestimated.

The wording that should be used on such buttons has been scrutinised by an EU case (Fuhrmann-2-GmbH v B 2022). The case involved the popular travel website booking.com, which used the wording "complete booking" on its payment confirmation button. 

However, under EU consumer law, a consumer is not bound by a contract if a button used for online orders is not labelled in an easily legible manner. Either the words "order with obligation to pay" or with other unambiguous wording making clear that placing the order results in an obligation on the customer to pay must be used.

The European Court of Justice (the ECJ) determined that only the wording "complete booking" could be considered and not any other information provided to the customer during the order process.  

As such, the ECJ considered whether, in everyday language and in the mind of the average, well-informed, reasonably observant and circumspect consumer, "complete booking" could reasonably be understood as creating an obligation on the part of the customer to pay. 

As EU consumer law is designed to provide a high level of protection for consumers, this would not be the case if consumers were required to analyse all other circumstances and information provided during the order process to determine whether they were under an obligation to pay because a payment button is unclear. 

The ECJ decided that as "booking" is a synonym for reserving or making a pre-order free of charge, it would not have the same effect as the wording "order with obligation to pay". 

Although this case is post-Brexit, there is no binding obligation on UK courts to follow its ruling. UK courts may still consider it when deciding similar cases and determining the approach to be taken to protect UK consumers. 

If your site sells goods or services to consumers within the EU, you should be mindful of this decision and take steps to ensure your order confirmation button includes wording that makes it crystal clear that the consumer is agreeing to an obligation when placing their order.