What must an online shop's order confirmation email include? The 24 items in the law, sorted into the ones every order needs

Most shop platforms send an order confirmation email by default, and most owners never read it again after setting up the shop. The law has a view on what that email contains. Regulation 16 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 says that for a distance contract "the trader must give the consumer confirmation of the contract on a durable medium", and that the confirmation "must include all the information referred to in Schedule 2" unless you have already given it on a durable medium before the order was placed.

Schedule 2 has 24 lettered paragraphs, from (a) to (x). Many of them are written for subscriptions, services and digital downloads. We went through each one against the ordinary case: a customer buys a physical item once from a small UK shop and it is posted to them.

When it has to arrive, and what counts

The confirmation must be sent within a reasonable time after the contract is made, and in any event no later than the time the goods are delivered (regulation 16(4)). It counts as provided once you have sent it.

An email is a durable medium. So is paper, such as a printed sheet in the parcel. A link to a terms page on your website is weaker, because you can change that page later and the customer has nothing fixed to keep. The safe pattern is to put the required wording in the email itself, or attach it as a PDF.

The 7 items every order needs

These apply to any one-off sale of goods at a distance:

• (a) the main characteristics of the goods: the product name and the options chosen are usually enough.
• (b) your identity, such as your trading name.
• (c) the geographical address where you are established, plus your phone number and email address where you have them. A PO box is not a geographical address.
• (f) the total price including taxes.
• (j) the arrangements for payment and delivery, and the time by which you will deliver. If you say nothing, the default under the Consumer Rights Act is 30 days.
• (l) the conditions, time limit and procedure for cancelling: the 14 days, how to tell you, and how the refund works.
• (p) a reminder that you are under a legal duty to supply goods that conform to the contract.

Item (l) is the one that matters most, for a reason below. Our returns policy template has wording for it that you can paste straight in.

The 11 that depend on how you trade

These apply only in some cases, and most are marked "where applicable" in the regulation itself:

• (d) and (e): the identity and address of another trader you act for, and a separate complaints address if it differs from (c).
• (g) delivery charges and other costs on top of the price. Almost every shop that charges postage needs this one.
• (i) the cost of contacting you, if it is above the basic rate.
• (k) your complaint handling policy, if you have one.
• (m) that the customer pays for return postage after a cancellation, if that is your policy. If you do not say so, you pay.
• (o) where there is no right to cancel, or it can be lost: personalised items, sealed hygiene goods once unsealed, and so on. Our guide to refusing refunds on personalised and custom orders covers what this line can and cannot exclude.
• (q) any after-sales service or guarantee you offer on top of the legal rights.
• (r) any code of conduct you have signed up to.
• (u) deposits or other financial guarantees you ask for.
• (x) any out-of-court complaint scheme you are a member of.

The 6 that do not apply to a one-off goods sale

Paragraphs (h) and (s) cover subscriptions and contracts that run for a period, (n) covers services started during the cancellation period, (t) covers minimum terms, and (v) and (w) cover digital content. If you sell digital downloads or a subscription box, read them; otherwise you can leave them out.

The gap that costs most

If you never give the customer the cancellation information in paragraph (l), regulation 31 extends the cancellation period. Give it late, within 12 months, and the customer has 14 days from receiving it. Never give it, and the period ends 12 months after the normal 14 days would have ended. For a parcel that arrived in December, that means a customer could cancel in the following December and still be within time. The dates for normal returns are set out in our guide to Black Friday and Christmas return windows.

A separate rule sits on the checkout page. Regulation 14 says the button that places the order must make clear that it creates an obligation to pay: the words "order with obligation to pay" or another phrase that says just as plainly that pressing it means paying. If it does not, the customer is not bound by the order. Most platforms handle this, but check any theme or app that has renamed the button.

A quick check on your own email

Place a test order and read the confirmation with this list open. Tick the seven always-items, then decide which of the eleven apply to you. The commonest gaps we expect to find are a missing geographical address, no statement of the 14-day cancellation right, and no line about who pays return postage. All three can be fixed by editing the template once.

An AI assistant set up by Overlyft can read your current confirmation template and policy pages against this list and draft the missing lines for you to check and paste in. The wording and the decision to use it stay with you.

This is general information for consumer sales in the UK, not legal advice.